Revenge of the Legacies
by Maren6Elizabeth
Summary: Sequel to "The Rise of Nine". After the war in Virgina, John and the others are on a quest to find the remainders of the Chimæra and the ship that will take them home. Malcolm has sought out another Loric ally, but for every task they need to accomplish, there are always obstacles ahead, like not knowing what Setrákus's next plan is. Will they be able to save us? Read and Find out.
1. Chapter 1: John

**Chapter One**

**John**

I'm panting from our early jogging session. Six runs ahead of me yet again, her ponytail lose, and I catch myself admiring the slight swishing of her hips as she does so. My heart just isn't used to the hard work, especially when I just came back from the dead.

I stop to catch my breath, sweat dripping from my long hair, which I refuse to cut. Only now do I regret letting it grow. I'm going to have to ask Six to cut my hair, again.

I hear Six stop in front of me and she says, "Come on, John. You can do it. We're just two miles away from the house." I take a deep breath and start jogging to reach Six. She lets me go ahead several steps before I hear her footsteps. Every morning for the past three weeks, Six takes me out jogging to exercise my heart. But no matter how near or far our distance may seem from the house, our point of origin, I always lag behind her and even fainted on the spot several times. That isn't even the worst part. Crayton takes us training for about two to three hours everyday several hours after lunch. And that leaves me with muscles like jelly every night.

I struggle keeping my breathing even, like Six does. She is now beside me, coping with my slow pace. I can't believe she can even put up with me, being slow and all. Five minutes later, I stop again, hands on my knees, my breakfast threatening to come back up. It had been the first time I actually stopped two consecutive times, and maybe it's because Six took me out farther than usual. "Are you okay? How do you feel?" Six asks with one hand on my shoulder while the other massages my back. "I'm fine, but I think I can't run any further," I say. Honestly, I feel like I can pass out right here, right now. My legs feel like limp noodles. My entire body feels like it's on fire, even with my Lumen. My heart is pumping madly against my chest and I'm bone tired. But of course, I didn't tell Six that.

"We can walk," she says. I nod in agreement and straighten my back. Squaring my shoulders, taking deep breaths, I hold Six's hand and together we walk the rest of the way back.

* * *

Once, inside, I directly walk in the kitchen refrigerator and drink about three glasses of ice cold water. It hurts my throat, but the dryness of it seems to feel better. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. I walk in the living room and see Nine and Cole playing with fifteen or so Ella's. She created this game one day, and you have to find the real her amongst her doppelgangers. So far, only Cole has beaten Ella in this little game of hers. He says that "her thoughts are strongest in her original body".

Sam takes a seat beside Nine and enters the game. Cole smiles and was about to say something when Nine punches his arm. "Don't spoil the fun, man," he says, and Cole bursts out laughing. He stands up and enters the kitchen, where Marina's cooking with another Ella. Meanwhile, Meredith, Crayton and Malcolm are in front of laptops. But where is Six? Then I hear her chuckling past me, while turning visible, she runs towards the bathroom…

"Oh no you don't!" I say. Six and I have been beating each other senseless trying to get to the bathroom first. With telekinesis, I grab her feet, and she falls to the ground. I run as fast as I can to the bathroom door. But Six managed to get hold of my feet, causing me to trip and fall over. Six crawls to the bathroom door, but I hold her back with telekinesis. Screw being a gentleman; I'm going to get the nice shower first.

I straddle Six with her hands above her head, and I don't know how, but she gets a foothold and manages to push me over her. "Guys! The other bathroom's free upstairs!" Cole says from the living from, but we didn't care. Six holds me down on the floor with her telekinesis as she walks casually to the bathroom. After she's locked herself in, I can feel her telekinetic force wear off. Damn it. She's beaten me again.

Six takes a shower long enough for the hot water to run out. Afterwards, she crosses the hall into our room, where I'm sulking right now, sweating and sticky. While Six was using the bathroom I made a beeline to the upstairs one, but Malcolm beat me to it, carrying a newspaper. "Finally," I exclaim sitting up and carrying my towel on the way to the bathroom before anyone beats me to it.

When I get out, Six and the other are in the kitchen table, eating the omelets Marina prepared. Six moves the vacant chair beside her with telekinesis and gestures for me to sit down. My stomach growls at the smell of the food on my plate. I had to remind myself that I have to eat one spoonful at a time. Afterwards, Crayton reminds us about training later that afternoon. The others, including Sam, are excited whereas I'm dreading it. My body is aching all over and still I have to train? Not in this life. "I'm going to sleep for a while," I say as I stand up. Six accompanies me and once inside, I collapse on the bed unconscious.

* * *

"John, wake up, it is way past noon and you didn't even eat lunch," Six whispers in my ear. I slept all throughout noon? Boy, I'm that tired? I'm still sleepy even. Nonetheless, I have to train, and to train I have to force myself to get up. I sit up slowly and yawn loudly. Six waits for me patiently before we head out to the backyard, where the others are already training. Sam's paired with Ella. Both of them had gotten quicker with their moves for the past few days. Since Ella's still young, she's often matched up with Sam so their defenses will be equal, so to speak.

Nine and Meredith are having a practice fight under close supervision from Malcolm. Crayton is helping Cole use his sword properly. Marina is shooting the running doppelgangers from a distance, and whenever she hits one, the decoy Ella explodes to a puff of mist. Six and I join the practice fighting group and start beating each other up in a playful yet serious kind of way.

Training feels like lifetime but when the sky gets dark, we stop, sweaty and tired. A copy of Ella goes inside to fetch us some towels while Six creates a slight rainfall to clean us up and to avoid any other races to the bathroom. We didn't even get muddy. The rain was enough to make the earth damp, but more than enough to cool our bodies. We clean ourselves up and enter the house only to change clothes and eat dinner.

Once Marina's done cooking our food, we sit together at the dining table. Malcolm is the last to enter the room and what he says is enough to make everyone fall silent. "We're going to Manhattan." I start coughing when the words leave him mouth. Sam, who is seated beside me, bangs me on the back. Is he joking? He can't be serious. I'm on the very top of the List-of-the-Most-Wanted-People-on-Earth for God's sake! Malcolm can't be serious. He just can't. If we march straight to Manhattan I'll surely be captured by the FBI—or worse.

Six stands up so quickly her chair topples over behind her. Her eyes flash dangerously and her brows are furrowed. Her eyes also show a light tint of glowing blue, a thing that rarely occurs since the war in Virginia. Crayton already warned us not to piss Six off because now that she's exposed to her full power, her "inner powerful self" might make an appearance. "Give me one good reason why we should go to Manhattan," Six says, her voice deadly calm with a pinch of venom in it. The air in the entire room tenses. Outside, thunder booms threateningly. Malcolm, however, shows no fear to Six. As he squares his shoulders, he swallows before saying, "I think I've found another Loric ally there. His name is Robert Miller. He might have information about the ship's location."

Six snaps. She pushes me aside and attempted to run to Malcolm and put her hand on his throat, but if it weren't for her foot catching on my leg, she would've succeeded. She quickly stands but I already got her with my telekinesis. I hold her arms behind her back, and with my combined strength and telekinesis, I guess that is enough to stop her, even in her current state. "What do you mean 'more information' ?" Six says, "Don't you know where the ship is?"

"That's just it," Malcolm says, his voice full of dread, "The ship is gone."


	2. Chapter 2: John

**Chapter Two**

**John**

"Maybe it's in the Smithsonian," Sam says. Malcolm buries his head in his hands in a desperate gesture. Six, who is surprisingly sympathetic despite the turn of events a few minutes ago, fidgets on my lap. Ella, multiplied by at least a dozen, is grooming the group of Chimæras on the floor of the living room. Bernie Kosar, who had a sulky kill-me-now doggy face, kept saying to me, _set me free. I hate pink. I hate ribbons. Set me free. _Nine, Meredith, Cole and Marina are seated on the couch in front of the coffee table while Six and I occupied the one parallel to Malcolm's chair. Since the space is too small for both of us, Six agreed to sit on my lap. Crayton and Sam remain on their feet, thinking deeply. "How did you know it disappeared?" asks Crayton. Here we go again. Crayton is in his detective mode, and you can't lie to him. Not against his searching eyes.

"We were assigned to look at the ship if it was still there, and when it was my turn it was gone. Vanished without a trace," Malcolm says dreadfully, not looking up from his hands. "Dad, it wasn't your fault. Maybe the Mogs took it and buried it in a mountain," says Sam. He's been ranting like this for the past fifteen minutes, suggesting places like the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, under the White House, in the Yucatán, buried in the Pyramids of Egypt and other places like that. Only Cole seems to pay attention to him, but sometimes he ignores Sam's suggestions like the rest of us.

"No. That ship has some sort of concealing device that allows it to show up only with a transmission device. I don't know what it is, but I think there is also another device that allows the ship to disappear and relocate on its own when it's found by unauthorized personnel. It can be anywhere in the planet," Malcolm says looking up briefly at his son.

"What is Robert Miller's connection to this?" Nine asks.

"Everything. He was the last person who saw the ship in its place. He was the one who alerted me when it was making these sudden noises, according to him. Then when I came to check on the ship, it was gone. I called him, but got no response, even from the others," Malcolm says.

"What makes you sure that this Robert Miller is still one of us? He might get blackmailed by the Mogs to do their bidding. And besides, we have the transmission device, the one from your backyard. Can't we just find the ship ourselves?" I say.

"Well we—wait, what did you say?" Malcolm says, his beady eyes wide and astonished.

I leave the explaining to both Six and Sam while I get my Chest from one of my backpacks at the foot of the bed in our room. I've been keeping the white tablet-slash-transmission device and the clump of documents Six grabbed in my Chest, folded neatly and organized. Once I get the tablet and the papers out, I re-lock my Chest and hand it to Malcolm in the living room. He traces the surface with his index finger with a series of strokes and turns, like a pass code, and the transmission device's screen illuminates brightly. It takes several seconds before the light of the screen decreases and shows a map. "Locate ship," says Malcolm, and the map on the screen moves, zooming at remote places and valleys. Six stands up, running her fingers through her hair and says, "I'm just going to hit the sack, my head's about to explode." With that she turns on her heels and walks away.

Malcolm squints at the screen and mutters certain words, and then the screen goes blank. "What else did you take from the lair?" Malcolm asks.

"Well, Six took about a handful of documents," I say, handing him the pieces of paper, "and a pendant from a large skeleton dude." Malcolm scans the papers, and asks Crayton and Sam to accompany him in the kitchen table, leaving me and the others in the living room. Ella, back in one body, is asleep in between furry bodies of the Chimæras. Marina carries her to their room with Cole trailing close behind her. I sigh, and yawn sleepily. After all the tension, I didn't even realize that my bones are aching, and I can barely open my eyes. When I walk through the door to our room, Six is on the bed, back turned to me. What caught my attention the most is that she's wearing one of my larger shirts, the ones that fit her like a lose nightgown, and it showed too much of her legs. My heart starts to pound. I should be used to this. How many times have I seen Six's legs? This isn't even the first! But yet here I am, trying to decide what to do, while I marvel at how beautiful and perfect she is, even from behind.

My first step towards her makes the floorboards creak underneath, but if Six heard it, she doesn't let it on until she feels the mattress sink under my weight. She turns to her side, pulling my shirt down to cover her thighs as she goes. "I can't sleep. As much as I want to, I just can't," she says, making space for me. The second my back hits the bed, Six snuggles near my chest. I've missed this, having her pressed against my side, because most of the time I sleep earlier than the others. I bury my nose in her hair and breathe its lemony scent before asking, "Why?"

"I just have a bad feeling about all of this. What if you're right?" Six says, looking up at me, her eyes sparkling. As a matter of fact, I also have a strange feeling about this. Robert Miller might not be one of us anymore. But he is another ally, and the Elders chose him for a reason. Six looks at me expectantly, and I just shrug. She sighs and tucks her head under my chin. After a while I can feel Six doze off, so I allow myself to do the same. I quickly kiss her forehead goodnight and close my eyes.

* * *

And another haunting vision flashes behind my eyelids.

I'm on Mogadore; the sky here is blood red. The Mogadorians here are all scurrying from one place to another, almost like frightened rodents. In the distance, the tall soldiers are surrounding the ruins of a rock fort. My dream form approaches the fort soundlessly, and the soldiers turn blind eyes towards me. I enter the eerie castle through the big, blown hole on the wall which I think was meant to be a door. The entrance pretty much reminded me of a cave's mouth, and that made goosebumps rise on my arm despite being a ghost in an illusion.

Inside, the stone walls are blackened and chipped, so worn that this structure might collapse. Again, I had to remind myself that I'm not really here, that I just came to visit this horrifying place.

The halls are dark and empty. Cobwebs line every corner, and the darkness in this castle is enough to scare a child for life. Bats are screeching from above, but what I find most terrifying is the wails and growls from one of the upper floors.

"Please, master. You have to re—" says a small and frightened voice, but a louder, much familiar voice growls at him, and something hits the wall. "Those little pests may have weakened me, but that will not stop me from destroying them. You, Lusmos, have done nothing to help me! I need strength! And the only way to do that is to awaken him!" says Setrákus Ra, angry for something I know not of. My dream self floats up, passing through walls and floors until I know that I am directly below the room where the tension is occurring.

"B—but master; he is unstable. We know not of how he will behave," says the frail voice. I risk floating just a little higher, enough for my eyes to see through the room. Had it not been a dream, I would've screamed all I want. Sitting on a metal chair, with wires and tubes connected to him, Setrákus Ra is seated, more than half his entire body covered in blisters and burns. His skin looks like it might dissolve at a single touch. The grotesque scar on his neck looks like it's been recently opened, now that it stands out more in his ever ashy gray skin. The other Mogadorian, Lusmos, is huddled on the floor, clutching his guts like they might fall off. He is certainly scared; terrified even. "Master—"

"Do not speak of it," says Setrákus, "I am your master, you are my servant. A servant must always obey his master, and in this case, if a servant disobeys his master, the penalty is that of your own destruction. Release him when I tell you to. Once I tap into his energy, I will be unstoppable once again." The three pendants on his neck begin to glow, and I'm fairly aware that mine is too. Setrákus' dark eyes bore into mine, and I'm whisked back to my own body.


	3. Chapter 3: Six

**Chapter Three**

**Six**

I sit bolt upright the minute John's body beside me begins to twitch involuntarily.

Throwing the covers off of his body, I quickly get off the bed and reposition myself beside him. I place my hand on his cheek, and his head jerks to the side, causing me to yank my hand back. John's mouth moves and then he murmurs words in Mogadorian in a fearful tone. I shake his shoulder once, and his head twitches again. John speaks just a little louder, like he's angry at someone. I can't watch this. Every time is worse. Since his very first premonition, I have to see him twitch like he has epilepsy. I have to hear those words that I know haunts him while he sleeps. And the worst? I have to endure the pain of seeing him receive visions of death and destruction in the near future. And it hurts me more to know that I can't do anything to take his pain away.

John starts to sweat, and he convulses, like he has been electrocuted. Despite seeing him like this many times before, I feel panic settle on me. "John!" I yell, shaking his shoulders. Several more seconds of this and he opens his eyes, wide and frightened. He sits up, his breathing labored. I reach for the water bottle I keep beside the bed and hand it to him. John drinks almost half of it, and hands the bottle back to me. "What did you see?" I ask, rubbing John's shoulder as he steadies his breathing. "We have to talk to the others—now. I know what Setrákus's plan is," he says, and together we run out of the room and interrupt the conversation in the kitchen.

"John recently had a premonition—" I say, but John cuts me off. "—about Setrákus," he finishes. Crayton looks up the same time Malcolm and Sam does. The documents I tore from Malcolm's bulletin board are laid out in front of them, with little dots and dashes atop each letter or syllable. Morse code. Katarina taught me that once, I didn't understand anything. "Pray tell," Malcolm says.

John starts telling us about his dream, about a Mogadorian slave Lusmos and Setrákus's not-so-secret plan. "He says that he must use someone's energy to become stronger. I just don't know who it is," John ends his explanation. He collapses on the nearest chair, props his elbows up on the table and puts his fingers on his temples. I rub his shoulder in a comforting gesture. "Well, the person Setrákus is talking about was killed more than twenty years ago by Pittacus himself. His name is Metus, former ruler of Mogadore. But what made him known is his cunning and deceptive cleverness, even more intelligent than Setrákus. But then the prophecy was told. You see, before, Mogs choose a Loric like you and use them as a slave. That was one key that led to their greatness in battle strategies," Crayton says, and I stiffen. They used to hire Lorics with the Legacy of Premonition as slaves? Oh, they are going to pay! "Then the prophecy was foretold. A Loric with unique Legacies will rise up to Metus and dethrone him. Metus searched for the Loric and finally found him; Pittacus Lore," Crayton explains, "The fight between Pittacus and Metus lead to the attack several years later. In the end, Metus died at the hands of the Elder, and that caused the Mogadorians to avenge perhaps their greatest ruler. Setrákus, Metus' second-in-command at the time, prepared his army as he was now ruler of the Mogadorian Empire. After years of planning, they finally got their revenge, and well, you know what happened."

Crayton's words hang in the air. We are all silent. I take John back to our room, where it was his turn to do the pacing-around-the-room thing.

"John, calm down. We have to get some rest. We're going to leave tomorrow, to Manhattan," I say, standing up from the bed and wrapping my arms around his waist. Well, that's the only way I can think of to stop him from walking.

"Come on, John. Let's go to sleep," I say, pulling him to the bed. He reluctantly lies down beside me. "I can't sleep. What if I have a nightmare? Another premonition perhaps?" he says. I exhale slowly. Why did it have to be him? Can't it be just me instead? Oh, how I despise feeling so helpless!

I crane my neck and give him a peck on the lips, just enough to keep the nightmares away. I know it always works for me, when it was me who had the nightmare and he was there to protect me.

"Good night, John," I say when our lips parted. I rest my head on his chest and the last words I heard and replied to are, "I love you."

* * *

John wakes me up at dawn. After taking baths, I rearrange the way John clumsily folds his clothes with telekinesis. It looks like the only things John managed to fold neatly are his boxers.

After eating Marina's pancakes for breakfast we load the minivan with Chimæras and half of our bags. The other half goes to the back of the truck. Cole, Marina, Ella, Malcolm, Sam and Crayton ride the minivan while Meredith, Nine, John and I enter the truck. Well, half of us. The space inside the truck is fit for two to three. John and I'll have to sit on the bed of the truck. If you're wondering what happened to the SUV Cole bought, it turned out to be in a pretty jacked up state, so Crayton bought another pickup truck.

The breeze is a little cold. John grabs both his and my jacket from the bags. John, with his denim pants and gray tee, slips his jacket on, completing the "tough-guy" look, according to him. I skipped wearing shorts today. After all, I am going to ride on the back of the truck. After slipping my hoodie on, I climb the back of the truck, followed by John. The engine comes to life, causing the bed of the truck to shudder, and we are off in search for Robert Miller.

John puts his hood up and puts his head on my lap, causing the hood of his jacket to fall off. _Stupid_, I think, but I don't say that. I absentmindedly run my fingers through his long hair. "You know, you need to cut your hair," I say, pulling my hood up as well just as a precaution if someone recognizes me as the girl on the run with John Smith. I nudge John to sit up so that I can lie down on the truck bed. Luckily for me, my hood did not fall off. I prop my feet on the edge of the truck's bed and while John lies down on my belly, he replies, "Nah, they remember me as a short-haired, tough and rugged criminal. Besides, you like my hair."

"No I don't!" I say quickly, averting my gaze from the cloudy sky to the black Converse shoes I'm wearing. I really like the way John ruffles his hair, but to cut it is for the best. "Uh, yeah you do. I can see by the way you look at me when I mess up my hair," John says as he plays with my fingers. I ignore him, even though my cheeks feel hot. I guess I'd be as red as a tomato if I can only see my face.

The journey is long and boring. All I did was nap or listen to music from John's iPhone. From time to time I would create cloud figures, just for the fun of it. John just fell asleep and didn't wake up until I tell him we're here.

Crayton takes lead, and we follow the minivan through the winds and turns of the streets of Manhattan. No one minded us. Not a single person cared that the world's most wanted criminal has entered their city, and I find that idea laughable. The minivan stops in front of a two-story house with yellow walls and a blue roof. A blue Mazda 3 car is parked on the drive way. A blue mailbox is planted on the front yard, with the word "Miller" painted on it in white bold lettering. The curtains from the upper windows are closed, while the light from inside the house signals that there are people inside. One by one we file out of the cars, and Malcolm rings the doorbell. No one answers the door. He rings it again. "Just a second!" says a woman's voice, who I assume is Robert's daughter. There's a series of clicks and the sound of a loosened chain before the door swings open. A girl about my age and height appears, with blonde hair and blue eyes but not as intense as mine. Her ivory complexion and high cheekbones reminded me of someone. Her eyes, slowly taking in our faces, widen when they see me and John. "John?" she whispers, and I froze. John does too, and for a second I hear nothing. Not even our breathing.

Sarah Hart is in Robert Miller's house. Well, this is going to be a very awkward day.


	4. Chapter 4: John

**Chapter Four**

**John**

"John?" she says, her eyes wide with shock. Six doesn't move, so do I. Sarah is in front of me, wearing a long blouse and skinny jeans, taken aback. I don't know what Six is up to, but if she's already planning a murder right now, she'll give us away. Sarah takes a step forward, as if she's going to hug me, and I quickly grasp Six's hand. Her eyes saw the movement of my hand, and the shock was replaced with hurt. "Are you going to let us in?" Six asks impatiently, her voice cold and bitter. I give her hand a gentle squeeze and she looks at me, pure hate in her eyes, which had started to glow. "C—come in," Sarah says. We enter the house in silence, though I can hear rattling breaths from Sarah as I passed her. The minute we enter the house, Cole whispers, "Awkward." I couldn't blame him. I'm in a house with my ex-girlfriend and the love of my life, which happens to get destructive with one wrong move. Things might get very dangerous.

I take a seat on one of the comfy couches in the living room with Ella beside me while Six remains on her feet, arms crossed with her nails digging into her arm; her body poised and tensed as if she was expecting attack. Typical Six. But when I see the dangerous flash of her stunning blue eyes, I knew that we have to leave as soon as Robert shows up. "Where's Miller?" Six asks just as Sarah enters with a tray filled with glasses of water. She looks up, stares at Six, and nearly drops the tray when she notices the slight glow of Six's eyes. "H—he's upstairs," Sarah replies. She looks at me, as if she's accusing me. Beside the couch, Six is beginning to tremble slightly. I stand up and attempt to put an arm around Six's shoulder, but one look from her frightening stare makes me sit back on the couch. "She's going to snap," I hear Nine mutter, and Sam nods, trying to silently tell Crayton although I know Crayton already knows.

"Well? Aren't you going to call him down here? Or are you going to let me deal with it?" Six says. Sarah scurries away without wasting a breath, but the tension still hangs thickly in the air. "Six—" I whisper, but she heard it with deaf ears. She doesn't even look my way. Shit, I don't know what to do. I don't want to hurt Six; I don't want to hurt anyone. At the moment my body is experiencing very complicated feelings and has gone numb because of it. The moment with Sarah's accusing stare had no effect on me. I don't even know what she means. Footsteps echo on the floor when Sarah and a man I assume is Robert Miller enter the living room. Robert Miller has a slightly balding head and a skinny form. His back is hunched, and his long fingers look like spiders. His skin tone is a bit darker than mine, and when he speaks, his voice is husky, "And you must be the Garde. Greetings! My name is—"

"Yeah, yeah, we know who you are, so let's just get straight to the point; where's the ship?" Six says, and I stare at her. Never in a million years would I imagine Six answer back at anyone that way. Nine and Cole exchange a few glances, as if they are communicating. Crayton and the others are also letting out an aura of worry and anxiety, but the overall tension in the air reverberates from Six alone. Her face is torn between pure hate and self-control. Six's stare is enough to rival even Setrákus's. That look on her face is enough to warn anyone to stay out of her way.

Sarah sits across me with her gaze averted to the carpeted floor. I didn't feel anything, even if I saw a single tear fall from her eye. I don't know if I have gone numb or my feelings are never really the same for Sarah since the night my and Six pendants changed. Robert, on the other hand, seems really jolly, as showed when he replies to Six's otherwise venomous message. "The ship disappeared under unexplained reasons. But before it disappeared it was creating some sort of high-pitched humming from inside—"

"So you have no idea where the ship is?" Six interrupts yet again. Robert opens his mouth, but the unexpected glitch in Six's eyes makes him close it again. Meanwhile another tear fell from Sarah's eyes.

"No, I don't know where it is," Robert replies.

"What is your relation to her?" Six asks, sharpening her voice at the word "her".

"Oh, Sarah? She's my niece. She's practically living here because her parents won't allow her to get a dorm at that photography school," Robert says, the enthusiasm and joy in his voice completely washed away. Meredith—I think—is trying to calm Six down with her Sensior powers. Six casts a murderous glare, sensing what she was trying to do, and Nine's hands ball up into fists. I cast him a warning glance, and his hands relax. We're silent, and yet another tear fell. I look outside the window and it was—nighttime? I look at the wall clock Robert has and receive shock—it was just 2:30 in the afternoon. There must be a storm outside. Shit, things did not go as expected.

"Well, since you have nothing more to tell us; Crayton, can we leave now?" Six says, directly to Crayton, but doesn't shift her murderous gaze from Sarah. Sarah's hands balls up into fists and she stands up. Her eyes are red and swollen from the silent tears. "How could you?" Sarah yells, directly at me. Six shifts into defense mode. Thunder, upon Six's command, booms threateningly outside, but Sarah pays no heed to it. "I shed tears for you! I get bullied because of you! I stayed out of your way because I loved you John!" she says, angry tears streaming down her face. She loves me? Preposterous! I stand, getting angry as well. "Then why did you give me up, huh? If you really did love me you should've kept your mouth shut! You should've protected me!"

"I did, John! The FBI told me that their defense system cannot be penetrated and I thought the Mogs won't be able to get you there!" she says, choking back the sobs that threaten to spill. The glasses of water on the tray explode with a twitch of Six's finger. Her eyes now came to that glowing blue. We are doomed.

"Protect him?" Six yells, enraged, just as a cackle of thunder makes the lights in the house blink. "You nearly got him killed! Sam and I included! Mog eyes and ears are everywhere, even in that god damned FBI Department! The minute we got captured months ago led them to us!"

"I panicked, alright? I wanted John to come back—" Sarah says, but I cut her off. "You panicked and then you gave me up? What the hell is wrong with you Sarah?" I yell, "I risked seeing you that night and you gave me up? And to think that I thought you were just jealous of Six!"

"I was jealous, alright?" Sarah yells, and another cackle of thunder echoes about in this house, as if its source is directly above us, which I think it is. "I was jealous because Six is always there to comfort you. She was there to protect you while I'm stuck in Ohio waiting on your empty promise! And I was such an idiot for believing you would ever return!"

Silence. The picture frames on the walls are threatening to shatter, because of Six or me, I don't know. My blood is pumping in my ears, and the only things I heard aside from it are the choking noises Sarah was making. I signal to Sam that we have to leave before saying, "You know what? You're right. You are an idiot for believing I would ever come back."

Sarah looks up, astonished by what I said. What, she thinks that I'll come running back at her after this is over? After what just happened? Well, good fucking luck at that. "What are you saying?" she whispers.

The others are already gone, except for Six and me. I don't want to be despicable, but I want to scar Sarah for life. I grasp Six's hand, show Sarah my pendant, and say, with every amount of hatred and venom in my heart, "There's nothing left to come back for."

With that I kiss Six right in front of Sarah before slamming the door shut of the Millers' residence.


	5. Chapter 5: Six

**Chapter Five**

**Six**

John kissed me. In front of her. And that made the anger wash away. Sarah runs out of the living room and up the stairs. I hear a door slam. One good thing the kiss had effect on me is that it prevented me from ripping Sarah's heart out and shoving it down her own throat.

"What have you done?" Robert says, but John pays no attention to him as he hauls me out the door. "I didn't want to do this, but you forced me to!" Robert says, and again John ignores it until we hear a click of a button. I look behind me and see some sort of device in his hand. In his other hand was a familiar white tablet. And then all hell broke loose.

Mogadorians hiding in cars and vacant lots come out from every direction, armed with every weapon you can think of. People can also mistake them for the army, since they're wearing camouflaged clothing that hides most of their gray skin. "You," I say, the blue hue in my eyes intensifying, "you traitor! How could you?"

"Who wants to be on the losing side when there are better chances at surviving on the winning team?" Robert says, handing the tablet to the nearest Mogadorian. Great. Now the race for the ship is on.

I look around. The quickest way out for us is back the way we came. But we have to do it quickly; the entire place will be on lock-down, now that one of the neighbors who noticed the commotion phoned the cops. John and I, since we aren't in the truck yet, will have to run. I only pray that Crayton is smart enough to find John's phone and find us again using the locator app. If Cole is reading my mind now, I can only hope he's making sense of my plan. He must've been, because almost immediately, the truck and the minivan's engines roar to life. And they were off. Meanwhile John and I kill the remaining Mogadorians.

It was pretty hard to do without losing myself. I have to blink away the bright blue that threatens to take over my thoughts. I knew that if I let go of my control, I'll burn Manhattan down to the ground.

John and I mostly deflect the bullets from the Mogadorians's weapons with telekinesis as we edge our way down the street, where Crayton and the others have gone. Lightning touches the ground and a cloud of dust fills the air where the lightning struck. One of the Mogadorians found an opening and fired at me. A bullet grazes my shoulder, and the impact of the poison from it throws me to the ground. My arm is bleeding, and the poison from the bullet is agonizing. But I can't let my guard down. I have to protect John…

Another Mogadorian brings out a familiar tube, but bigger and I guess more powerful. "Six!" John yells, and by the sound of his voice he was tired. Damn it! Why did I have to be shot? John isn't used to being exposed to this much power yet. Any minute now he'll let grow weak. And we'll die.

Past my double vision, I see the Mog with the tube aim at me, and then he fires. "No!" John yells, and he stands in front of me. No, no, no, no…not again. He'll surely die this time. Before I do anything to push him out of the way, he does something I did not expect.

He raises his hands in front of him, and catches—literally—the air from the tube that threatens to kill me. The air then contracts into a small ball, and John pushes the air outward, radiating it all the way to the Mogs. The air is thick with dust and ashes in no time. "John…how…what…" I stutter, because the pain in my shoulder is killing me. I can hear cop cars in the distance. I hope the others made it out in time.

John sweeps his arms from under me, hefts me up and runs at Loric speed away from the mess we recently caused. So much for being incognito.

* * *

He sets me down after some time. We're in a forest a few miles out of town. By then I was bleeding heavily, and nausea clouded my thoughts. John…he just used the energy against their source. Could this be another Legacy? John takes his hoodie off, and then his shirt. He uses his shirt as a cloth to wipe away the blood. I wince slightly when he dabs hard on my open wound. "Sorry," he says, and he dabs at my wound just a little gentler. John looks at my wound, and he grows pale. I think it's worse than it feels. "What?" I manage to croak. My throat seems very, very dry. The pain in my head makes me want to sleep. But if I do, there's a ninety percent chance I won't wake up again.

"It—it's green," he says. John's finger traces the perimeter of my wound, and I wince again. The pain is too much to handle. It's like having your hand soaked in ice cold water and experiencing cramps at the same time. Numbness and cramps. I can't feel my fingers. "Don't worry, Six," John reassures me, "I'm right here." He repositions himself against what I think is a tree and wraps his arms around me. I lean into his shoulder and recoil a little when John applies pressure to the hole in my shoulder.

We stay like that for what seems like hours. My upper arm feels cold and I didn't notice that I started shivering. The sun seems to be on the other side of the sky past the canopy above. John feels me shiver, and he uses his Lumen to keep me warm. "I wish the others would find us sooner. Marina can get you healed up in no time," John says, pressing his lips against my forehead. He hits me with his Lumen every after twenty minutes, whenever he feels me shiver. At times he shakes me awake whenever I seem to drift away. "How bad does my shoulder look?" I whisper. I could've made my voice louder if it weren't for the dryness in my throat. John repositions himself and releases his hold on the soaking shirt. I swear he turned green.

"Um…" he says, but there was some rustling from somewhere to our right. John's hand illuminates and he yells, "Who's out there?"

"Chill, it's me," someone says, and Nine and Cole come out of the gloom.

"Thank god! Hurry, we have to take her to Marina," John says, and as he lifts me up in his arms, the bloody t-shirt he once wore fell from my shoulder. "Holy shit!" Cole exclaims at the sight of the wound on my shoulder. God, do I really look that awful?

"What the fuck happened to her?" Nine asks, the tone of his voice really grossed out. It would be the first time I heard Nine talk with a tone like that.

"I'll explain everything on the way. Right now, Six is on the brink of dying and we have to take her to Marina now," John says. We barely even moved yet when pain shoots through my shoulder, and this time I had to scream. John sets me on the forest floor and I can see his mouth move, but can't hear anything. I continue screaming.

Pain. All I felt was pain. Heart-stopping pain. Every kind of god damned pain multiplied a thousand times. Black…things swim in and out of my vision. And all of a sudden I'm not on Earth anymore.

I'm in hell. I mean, if this was hell, I never imagined that it would be this peaceful—wait, what? I'm hallucinating. Hell can't be peaceful. What the heck is wrong with me?

My own screaming fills my ears, magnified ten times. My ears feel like they're about to burst. Who knew that the poison from that bullet would have these kind of effects? "Six! Six!" John yells, his hands cupping my face, shaking me so hard that my head hurts. "Help…me…" I say before blacking out.

* * *

In the edge of darkness, I feel like I'm being swept away quickly. I can hear angry shouts everywhere. I wanted everything to stop. I wanted the pain to go away, but the noise was making it worse. I can't feel my own body. I don't know what I want anymore. The part of me that was infected by the poison wants to die on the spot while the stronger part of me still wants to hold on. My brain is malfunctioning. I don't know what to feel. Numbness has spread from my shoulder to the other parts of my body. Why can't the pain just go away? Why does it have to be so stubborn?

As if there was a genie, my wish came true. The pain slowly fades, and a new, warm sensation runs through my veins. I rejoiced for a minute, until everything went wrong.


	6. Chapter 6: John

**Chapter Six**

**John**

"Six!" I yell, my heart hammering. Six stumbles and falls to her side, clutching the hole in her left shoulder. Blood slips between her fingers as an angry hiss comes out of her mouth. The look on her face wasn't the hard mask I've come to see minutes ago. It was a face of agony and pain, torture. Seeing Six in pain is the first item on the list of things I never want to see. I would do anything just to make the pain go away.

The black mass overhead dissipates as quickly as the wound on Six's shoulder drains her of blood. My arms feel tired. I can't breathe. But I have to protect Six. I'm her only hope now.

One of the Mogadorians bring out the familiar cylindrical tube which I'm sure was created to kill Six. Judging by its size, I can tell that this one is different. The same Mog aims at Six and I have to force my puppet-like legs to move, to stand in front of her. A thousand blinking lights come to life, and the tube emits a grayish patch of gas. "No!" I yell, and my brain somehow shifts into red alert. I can see everything; from a speck of dust in the air to the peeking eye from the second floor of the Millers' Residence. I can also hear some mechanical clicking from the tube as it recharges. That isn't stopping the gray gas though.

I also got the capability to think clearly again. My brain is just…hyper. I suddenly knew what to do. I hold my hands up in front of me, concentrating on that deadly air. And now I am its master.

I bend the air molecules to my will and it obeys. The air contracts and fits into my hands. With whatever strength I have left, I push the air outward, and the nearest Mog explodes to dust. The others run away, but I won't let them escape. After what they did to Six, I'm going to make sure they all die.

I will the air to go faster, chasing after them, and two rows of Mogs reduce to ash. Three Mogs remain, and all of them explode when the air reaches their nostrils. Afterwards, I will the deadly gas to disappear. I turn on my heels and pick up a stunned-looking Six. "John…how…what…" she stutters, her arm still bleeding. I can't believe what I just did myself. Can this be the Legacy that will help me avenge my planet? Energy Manipulation?

I ignore the sirens that threaten to make my eardrums bleed. After all, I do have sensitive hearing. On my way down the street, towards our exit, I spot the white tablet on the asphalt, dusty and scratched. I stomp on it hard and set it on fire. With that I run as fast as my legs can carry me.

* * *

I set Six down against a tree somewhere outside Manhattan. Her face is as white as paper. The blood, both dried and fresh, that surrounds her left shoulder looks bad. I quickly rid myself of my jacket and my shirt. I use the shirt to clean the wound. During my haste to make her feel better, I accidentally slipped a finger through the hole in her shoulder. She recoils, groaning against gritted teeth. "Sorry," I say, and try as much as possible not to dab on the open cut. Once the blood is all soaked up by my shirt, I got a perfect view of the Six's wound.

Besides the hole on her shoulder, there was also a green layer of skin surrounding it. Black veins are embossed on Six's paper white skin. "What?" Six whispers hoarsely. Her chest rises then falls at a slow rate. I swallow the lump in my throat and say, "It—it's green."

Six lies back and sighs deeply. "Don't worry, Six," I say, sitting down beside her, "I'm right here." I wrap my arms around her and apply pressure to the gaping wound on her shoulder. Six winces once, and remains still.

We remain like that for a few hours more—intertwined. Six slightly shivers in my arms. I illuminate my free hand and shine my Lumen over her arm. She relaxes and stops shivering, but when I turn my lights off, she starts shuddering again. If I'm not shining my Lumen over her, I try to keep her awake, shaking her every now and then to keep her up. To keep her with me. _Stay with me,_ I tell myself repeatedly, hoping that Marina can get her healed, if they find us again.

"I wish the others would find us sooner. Marina can get you healed up in no time," I say, voicing my thoughts. I kiss Six's forehead. She's cold.

"How bad does my shoulder look?" Six whispers, her voice faint. I slip my arms away from her and kneel in front of her. Slowly, preparing myself for the worst, I remove my sopping wet shirt. I feel the bile rise up in my throat.

It looked worse than before in just less than six hours. The green skin surrounding the wound has stretched outward so that it covers half her entire upper arm. The blackish veins crisscrossing on her arm has reached all the way up to her wrist. I swallow back the bile that rose up to my mouth and stutter, "Um…" but the rustling from the leaves on our right stop me. I turn around and switch my Lumen on. "Who's out there?" I say as loud as I dare. Six tries to sit up behind me, but when someone with a familiar voice says, "Chill, it's me," I feel a wave of relief run through me. Nine and Cole come out of the shadows, and in Cole's hand is my iPhone. "Thank God!" I say standing up and brushing the leaves off my pants. Nine picks my jacket up and I continue, "Hurry, we have to take her to Marina." I pick Six off the floor gently, but as I did so the bloodied shirt fell off her shoulder, revealing the horrifying wound again. I bet I'll get nightmares tonight if I survive through this.

"Holy shit!" Cole exclaims, turning around with his eyes shut tight. Six buries her head in the crook of my neck in embarrassment, making me want to hit Cole as hard as I dare. But of course, I don't do it.

"What the fuck happened to her?" Nine asks, trying to hide the disgust in his voice but failed anyway. Can't we just leave already? She is dying for Christ's sake! "I'll explain everything on the way. Right now, Six is on the brink of dying and we have to take her to Marina now," I say, and I haven't even taken a step yet when Six tenses in my arms, and starts shrieking at the top of her lungs. I set her down and try to calm her, but my voice is like a mouse's squeaking compared to her screams of agony. After a while she does settle down, and the only thing she said before blacking out was, "Help me."

"Come on!" I yell, and the three of us guys run at the speed of light, with me lagging behind so that they could lead.

* * *

"Marina!" I yell in the house the others currently occupied. I have no idea where we are, but I hope it's isolated. Six's eyes roll to the back of her head and she was convulsing by the time we arrived. I put Six on the couch and hold her hand tight. "What happened?" asked Crayton, Sam and a few others in unison. "Just heal her, god damn it!" I yell angrily. Marina kneels down on the other side of the couch, but she was about to heal her when Six starts yelling again, causing Marina to flinch and yank her hands back. I gently run my fingers through Six's hair, hoping she can feel it, wherever she is. "Six, stay with me!" I say, and Six calms down. Marina does her thing. The veins that stick out on her arm crawl back to the source. The green surroundings were also about to disappear when Marina faints out of exhaustion. And the torture begins.

The pain Marina washed away rapidly comes back, causing Six to scream again. No, no, no, no, no. "Help me!" I beg the others. All I get are grieving looks.

Six gradually stops screaming, and her pupils return. I let go of the breath I was holding for so long. She sighs deeply, and falls asleep.

It was quiet in the living room. Except for Six's rattling breaths, everyone else is so silent it's as if they were statues. Still. Unmoving. I carry Six up again and she grunts when I hit her shoulder. "We'll be in the vacant room," I say faintly.

Ella leads me to an unoccupied room and once we enter, she politely closes the door for me and leaves. I settle Six on the bed and pull the covers up to her torso. I sit beside her and grasp her hand. I won't be able to sleep through the night. I have to be awake. I have to watch over her. Six's eyes open, and she whispers, "Am I dying?"

I clench her hand tighter. She's not leaving me. I will make sure of that, as selfish as it may seem. "No, you're staying, you hear me? You're not leaving me, Six," I say, the tears threatening to fall. Six pivots so that she stares right in my eyes.

"I would never dream of it," she says, "I love you."

"I love you too," I say, before I watch Six as she falls asleep again.


	7. Chapter 7: John

**Chapter Seven**

**John**

They say the second day isn't as bad as the first. Wrong. They are so fucking wrong.

The second day is worse. I had only about thirty minutes of sleep last night. It's a miracle I'm still alive even. Six had a fever. She was burning. I had to wake Marina up from her slumber to heal her, at least. But when Marina tried taking the fever away, she said that it wouldn't heal. In the end, I turn up to Meredith. She agreed to take care of Six while I get some sleep. But sadly, Six had started screaming again. I learned that only I can stop her from screaming her tonsils out, so I allowed Meredith to rest.

I had to force myself to stay up. At about 3:30 in the morning, I lay down beside Six and wrapped my arms around her to keep her warm because she was shivering again. I shined her with my Lumen nonstop as Six did not stop shivering. It was as bad as typhoid fever. She woke up a few times, too. She would always ask the same question over and over again: "Am I dying?" I comforted her, telling her to keep holding on, to stay. She cried a river after that every time.

Now, Six is in my arms, safely tucked away and asleep. I'm careful not to touch the infected skin on her arm. Once, Meredith accidentally grazed it, and that was why Six had started shrieking a few hours ago. I rest my cheek on her head, listening to her labored breathing. Sunlight slips through the curtains in our room. It must be morning. Six turns around and shifts into a more comfortable position. I loosen my embrace on her to let her move. But her eyes fly open and she sits up fast. She bends over the other side of the bed and something red comes out of her mouth.

I hold her hair out behind her head as she vomits some more. Blood also comes out of her nose as she does so. "Marina! Crayton! Help!" I yell, not letting go of Six's hair. I rub her back as she vomits more blood. I can't watch more of this. "Don't—look—at—me," Six says between retching. Angry tears spill from the corner of her eyes. "Marina! Anyone! Help!" I keep yelling. Meredith and Ella burst through the door and Meredith orders Ella to get some towels and some of Six's extra clothes. Ella disappears, running as fast as she can. "Where's Marina?" I ask as Six recoils, vomiting some more.

Meredith holds Six's hair for me and says, "She and Cole went out to buy groceries. We're running low on food and water. Also, she said she'll buy some antibiotics and see if they will work on Six. You don't have to watch if you don't want to." I thank her silently and exit the room. I can't stand one more second in there. I shrink to the floor and run my fingers through my hair. I can hear Six puking from inside. If she doesn't stop soon, she'll die. Why? Why did it have to be her? Why can't it be me instead? I know how Six hates being weak. I know how she dislikes feeling useless. I know how she hates pain. I don't want to see her like that. I don't want any of this. I bang my head against the wall repeatedly, whenever I hear the impact of Six's vomit of the floor. I cover my ears with my hands, but nothing seems to work. At last, Six's retching stops. Ella comes from the hall, with a bag I recognize as Six's, three towels, a mop, a wet rag and some other cleaning materials. I stay out of the room though. I can't bear to see Six in agony just yet.

Ella closes the door again. Someone's crying from the inside. "Kill me now! Please! I can't stand it!" Six yells. Ella and Meredith try to comfort her, but Six just kept yelling. That's it. I can't take much more of this. I stand up and run outside, ignoring the pitiful stares from the others as I passed. Once out, I sit on one of the porch steps and let out a few tears. Yeah that's right; men still cry.

I bury my head in my hands, depression and hopelessness filling my heart. What if Six dies? What if the poison affects her brain and alters her memories? What if she doesn't know me? What if Marina can't heal her? The hope of seeing Lorien with Six fades to nothing by the second. Where's the hope that Henri had promised me? Everything is bleak. Everything just made a wrong turn. Everything is gone. Then where is hope?

I'm so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't notice Sam behind me. "She wants to see you," Sam says. I wipe the tears away and walk rigidly to our room. I ignore the fact that Nine was suppressing a snicker at the sight of my bloodshot eyes. Sam smacks him at the shoulder before I walk into our room. I see Meredith and Ella there with a bloody mop and a rag. "She's upstairs," Meredith says, "Can you call Nine in here, please?"

"Sure," I whisper. I call Nine and tell him Meredith needs him. Afterwards I walk up the stairs and pass another Ella on the way. "She's in my room, the last one on the right," she says before hurriedly going down the stairs carrying a bloody t-shirt. I swallow the lump in my throat. Without making sound, I walk across the hallway and into the room Ella told me about. Six is there alright; sitting upright whilst looking out the window. She was crying.

I sit beside her and put an arm on her shoulders. Her face is paler than before. Her cheekbones are more prominent. Her eyes, the eyes I loved so much, lost their brightness. Six buries her head on the crook of my neck and sobs even harder. I rub her good shoulder in attempt to comfort her. "I'll just get you some water, okay?" I say, taking note of the choking sounds she was making. Six nods and I exit the room. When I return, the room looks like a tornado had passed it.

I drop the glass of water I was holding. The chest of drawers is turned over. The sheets are strewn all over the floor. The bed is pushed against the wall. There is also broken glass, probably from the lampshade. Behind me, there was continuous banging and whispering, "Kill me…kill me…"

"Six?" I say calmly, edging my way to her. She looks up, the tears streaming down her cheeks. "It's all right."

"No! I can't take this anymore, John. My head…it hurts…" she moans, hitting her head against the wall harder in attempt to make the pain go away. "Stop that," I say, getting a firm grip on her wrists, "Marina will find a way to heal you. If not, I will do everything I can to make you happy until the time comes. Six, just promise me you won't kill yourself. I will protect you. I love you, and I will love you forever."

Six stops moving and throws herself at me, hiding her face in my shirt. There, she starts sobbing again. I slip my arms from under her and lift her from up the floor. I walk down the stairs and tell the others about the mess Six made in Ella's room. When I said that, it made her cry harder.

I set Six down on the couch, but she refuses to let go of me, so instead she sat on my lap. A few minutes later, Marina and Cole come home, while arms full of paper bags. "How is she?" Marina asks, rummaging for the antibiotic in the bag. Sam gets a glass of water and hands it to me, as Marina does with the tablet. "Six?" I say, shaking her shoulder. She looks up at me, and down to the tablet in my hands. "We have to try," I say, and she takes the tablet reluctantly and drinks it. No effect—she vomited again.

* * *

I skipped eating lunch because Six really doesn't want to let me go. And also, I don't want to leave her alone. Who knows what she'll do to herself if she's left on her own?

Hours passed. Six naps often and I had Ella to bring me food in the living room. Crayton, Marina, Sam and Malcolm are doing what they can from brainstorming for a cure to watching Six for me while I rest. Cole, Meredith and Nine are cleaning the jacked-up room upstairs. The Chimæras, including three new ones Cole stumbled upon at the convenient store, sit huddled on the floor with Bernie at the center, napping with Ella. "Any ideas?" I ask. Crayton and the others shake their heads sadly.

We also learned that the poison affects the way Six's Legacies work. Crayton says he needs to know something before we move to thinking up a cure. When he asked Six to move the glass on the table, she didn't manage to, like when he also asked her to create a storm, make the earth shake, or make harsh winds. "We have to think of a way quickly," he says, "If this becomes more severe, the loss of Six's Legacies may become permanent."

That night, Six did not stop crying when she heard the news. She told me to lock the door of the newly repaired room and said, "Don't leave me, please. You're the only one I have left." Of course I didn't leave her, even for a second. I kept her in my arms until she fell asleep from all that crying.

I wish that I could freeze this moment, where there's no pain, no agony, no suffering. Just Six and me. Together. Peacefully asleep in each others arms.

* * *

The next morning, we woke up because Marina was practically flipping out in our room when she exclaims, "We found a cure!"


	8. Chapter 8: Six

**Chapter Eight**

**Six**

"We found a cure!" Marina exclaims. If it weren't for the throbbing and chest-aching pain emanating from my shoulder, I would be jumping up and down like her.

"You hear that, Six?" John asks, "You're going to be cured!" I manage a small smile and was about to reply when blood comes out of my mouth.

"Hurry up Marina! Heal her!" John yells, holding my hair out of the way as I vomit on the sheets. I don't want John to see me all fragile and pale. I know that being like this is torturing him. That's why as much as possible, I suppress the pain, the blood, the screams and the tears because every single one of them are like knives cutting across John's heart.

"I need your Healing Stone," Marina says, rubbing my back as I vomit some more. My nose is burning, and I can feel the warm liquid come out of it. I can't breathe. I can't see past the tears in my eyes that are threatening to spill. "But the Healing Stone doesn't work on Six…" John whispers hoarsely. I can already imagine the look of horror on his face at the sight of me.

"They don't work alone. With my Legacy plus the combined power of our Healing Stones, it will maximize my ability to heal people, even Six," Marina says, leaving the bed and rummaging for our Chests.

"Do you need all of them?" John asks.

"Yes. The other stones are already in the living room and ready to use."

Something heavy makes the mattress near my foot sink. Eventually, my retching stops. John heaves a relieved sigh and says, "I'll follow you down in a minute." Marina nods and exits the room. John reaches for our Chests, careful not to touch the blood. "I'm sorry you had to see that," I whisper. John doesn't look at me, but I can see a hint of a tear at the corner of his eye. He unlocks his Chest before answering, "I promised to be with you in good times and in bad. I don't regret the fact that it pains me to see you suffering, but I have to be here. There isn't another place in this world I'd rather be." _Cheesy, _I think to myself. After he takes out the familiar black stone, he brushes the tears that had spill from my eyes and says, "It's now or never." With that he slips his arms from under me and carries me down to the living room.

Before we enter the living room, I hide my face in John's shirt. I don't want the others to see me with a bloody mouth and nose. In the living room, four Healing Stones are hovering in midair enclosed in silver light. In their midst is Marina. In the circle of stones, a space remains for John's stone. "Crayton, are you sure about this?" Cole and Sam ask in unison.

"Positive. I've seen this done once before to a patient at the hospital where my wife works. Because, like Marina, she was one of the Healers, or Lorics with the ability to heal," Crayton replies. John sets me down on the couch and sits near my foot with my good hand interlocked with his. Sam and Cole lean against the wall behind the couch. Meredith and Nine sit on the other sofa, with little Ella between them, her fingers crossed. Malcolm isn't in the room. Maybe he's in the kitchen. "Six, do you want to take a shot or not? Um…this procedure will…sting a little," Crayton says. By sting he means hurt. I nod, and he says, "The sedative will take a few seconds to take effect. That will give Marina enough time to draw power from the Healing Stones; speaking of which, where is yours?"

"I don't have one," I reply. I look at John before I feel the needle puncture my good forearm. "It'll be over soon, Six, I promise," John says, kissing my hand. "Six, countdown from ten," Crayton instructs, so I close my eyes and start counting in my head; ten, nine, eight…

What if it doesn't work?

Seven, six…

What if Marina exerts too much energy? Will she die?

Five, four…

I didn't even reach the number three yet when I lose consciousness, but not before I see a bright silver light from behind my eyelids.

* * *

"John, calm yourself. Six isn't dead," Malcolm says.

"She should be awake by now," I hear John mutter to himself. I can hear his footsteps echoing from the floor. "You said Six will be awake within the hour."

"Dude, chill. It's been like, twenty minutes, not ten years. She's like a computer. She has to reboot first," Sam says.

"Nerd."

"I know, right?"

"Shut up. I think she's awake," Cole says. Everything goes silent. And I open my eyes.

The feeling…is unbelievable. After the amount of pain I felt the past two and a half days, I can say that I'm very new to this feeling. I can flex and move my fingers. I can twist my wrist. I can bend my elbow with ease. I feel strong again. I sit up slowly and take a gander at my shoulder.

The green skin John told me about is gone, replaced by a faint pink patch of skin. The lines that crisscrossed all over my arm disappeared too. A huge grin spreads across my face. I swing my legs over the edge of the sofa, and John says, "How do you feel, Six?"

"Better than fine," I say, wriggling my toes. I stand up with ease, but before I go outside and exercise my power, I pull Marina into a tight embrace. "Thank you so much," I whisper, the tears in my eyes returning, but out of joy, not out of pain. "No problem," she replies. We separate, and I make a beeline for the door that leads outside. There, I run around in circles like an idiot, flowers with fragrant scents growing in my wake. I stop and cause the wind to blow harshly. Oh, how I miss this feeling! A drop of water lands on the tip of my nose, and before I knew it there was heavy downpour. I smile to myself, and something wraps around my torso from behind. John swings me around, our laughter filling the air. The others have joined in too. Marina, Ella and Cole are chasing each other. Meredith, Nine and Sam are singing a horrible version of what I think is "Endlessly" by The Cab. They just sound like drunken addicts that the words are slurred and not understandable. The Chimæras, with their shaggiest coats, are running around. Only Crayton and Malcolm remain inside.

I've never felt so happy in my entire life. John stops spinning me, and turns me around so that I can stare in his grayish blue eyes. His head bends towards mine, but I simply kiss him on the cheek and disappear. "Aw, come on!" John exclaims. From his left, I tackle him and reappear. We roll and roll on the muddy lawn. John stops rolling and holds my hands above my head. "Pinned you," he whispers, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You should enjoy it while it lasts; this won't happen very often," I say. John's lips crash into mine. I missed the warmth of his lips so much it sent a shiver down the entire length of my body. It's just that, during the days of suffering, I always felt cold. But right now, whatever heat I needed, John gave me that, even from just a simple kiss.

John pulls away, and the rain stops. His hair is soaking wet and his grip on my wrists slackened. With my muddy fingers, I dab at the end of John's nose. He becomes cross-eyed just trying to look at it, and I chuckle at his face. I push him off me and try to get away, but he gets me back with a mud ball. John throws it at my face, but he misses, throwing it at Cole instead. And that is what started the mud fight.

* * *

Afterwards, we are all muddy and dirty. But that did not end my fun. "I'll race you to the bathroom!" I yell, and once again, John and I run as fast as we can to reach the bathroom.

Crayton had us cleaning up everyone's mud mess. "You start after dinner," he says.

"But Six started it," John whimpers.

"Uh, it was your fault you followed me," I counter, elbowing him near the ribs. So, that's how I find myself sprawled on the newly cleaned floor with his lips pressed hard against mine.

The day turns out to be pretty happy for me. But the following day, when Crayton turn the TV on, the reporter says, "Several reports from doctors in Manhattan and Ohio have said that a disease has attacked the people of said towns. Symptoms are unknown, but they say that this disease is characterized by green, moldy skin, high fever, paleness, frequent vomiting and something that relates to varicose veins. Doctors are trying to find a cure for this unwanted disease. Recently, there had been already two deaths since Monday…"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Cole asks.

"What's happening?" Sam asks.

"Don't you see?" Nine says, "They're ready to make this planet their own."


	9. Chapter 9: Six

**Chapter Nine**

**Six**

"But why?" Meredith asks. All of us, including the Chimæras, are in the living room talking about the news from the TV. Crayton has his hands on his mustache, stroking it gently in a thinking gesture. Malcolm, Sam, Cole and Marina are on the couch with Ella on Marina's lap. Meredith is up on her feet beside Nine, whose arms are crossed over his chest. John and I sit on the remaining chairs.

"Mogs can't colonize. Ever since the attack on Lorien, they've started having some sort of deficiency that attacks women. They can't reproduce babies that will become the soldiers Mogadore needs. Many of the soldiers that are hunting us down now are vat-born, and nearly all of them are born fully grown and ready for battle," Nine says, "I heard the Mogs' discussions when I was in the cave. My hearing extends all the way out past the force field if they're in near range. And besides, Mogadore is dying. They need another place to live. Lorien is just too small for their species, and it's as dead as their planet is anyways. They need a place as big as or bigger than Earth."

"Don't say that," Marina scolds Nine. He just shrugs. "Lorien is still alive, she's just asleep."

"So they're trying to kill off billions of people here on Earth?" Sam says, "We have to stop them!"

"But how?" Cole counters, "There are only seven of us Garde, a Cêpan, two humans and a handful of Chimæras against an entire demon planet and its army. We have no ship, no Loric Weapons besides the ones in our Chests and the ones Crayton has, plus there are more Chimæras to find. If they start spreading the poison throughout America, half of the United States will die within three to five months, and even more will pour in."

"We have to help the humans," Marina says.

"We can't just march in every hospital and do your healing-thing without tons of explanations," I say. Well, I don't want to crush Marina's dreams but she has to hear it. "The only way to help them now is to destroy the Mogs."

"I agree, but how? We have like only five months left to do everything; from finding the ship to searching for more Chimæras," John says.

"What about Loric Allies?" Malcolm asks.

"After what happened in Manhattan, I won't take any chances."

"We have to split up into three; a group for finding the Chimæras, another for searching the ship and another for secretly healing people. We're the only ones left to protect this world," Crayton concludes, ignoring our violent reactions. I guess everyone doesn't like the fact of splitting up. "Do you have any better ideas?" Crayton asks.

"What if the others got captured?" I say, "We're stronger together, and that's how it's going to stay, Crayton. We can't afford to lose another Garde."

"Besides, Crayton, the ship's coordinates have been revealed, but not at all exact," Malcolm says.

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday evening, I was checking the transmitter when three locations appeared; Indiana, Texas and Georgia."

John says, "The ship can be anywhere in those places."

"That's one thing the transmitter does. It confuses its bearer. One of these locations is the place where the ship resides in. But it will only show its exact location if you pass the said place's borders. If you're in the right place and pass its borders, the transmission device will turn on and will show the ship's location."

"You see?" Crayton says, "We need to form groups to find everything in just a few months."

"No we don't" I say, "We can look for the ship plus the Chimæras at the same time. As for the people, Marina needs to heal from here to everywhere around her. She has to maximize her ability to heal not just what she touches, but everyone around her. That's the plan."

"Where we're going to is not affected, Six," Marina says sadly.

"Fine, then. Crayton, what exactly is your plan?"

"Simple. We divide ourselves into three, each search for a specific item and return to the ship's coordinates. But we should have means of communication. John already has one, and we only need two more. I'm still working on uploading the app into a compatible device. I'll be able to buy you a day to prepare. Tomorrow, we leave. End of discussion."

"But—"

"It isn't safe—"

"End of discussion," Crayton says with finality. The rest of us exit the living room and onto the space outside, where we train under the early morning sky. "He's gone out of his mind," Cole whispers, not enough for Sam and the others inside to hear, but enough for us Lorics. We all nod stiffly and instead of training, sit in a circle on the lawn. John sits beside me as usual, holding my hand in his. "There's nothing we can do. The sooner we get rid of the Mogs, the better," Nine says.

"But to split up? No way," Meredith counters.

"I know it's hard for all of us," John says, "but I agree with Nine; there is nothing we can do. If we can manage to find the Chimæras and the ship, we'll be out in space in no time. As for the healing-of-the-people, I guess Six is right. Marina, you have to exercise your Legacy. It's the only way."

"Then what are we sitting here for? Let's get training!" Marina says, and we get to work.

* * *

Later that day, after eating lunch, we settle out in the lawn again, this time including Sam, Malcolm and Crayton. For an old man, Malcolm moves with agility, much like his son. I challenge Meredith after beating Cole up. Well, Crayton told me to do so, because Cole will be Marina's practice dummy for what I suggested earlier. Speaking of Marina, she's been struggling, trying to reach Cole, who is fifty meters away from where she is standing. They are supervised by Crayton. Marina lifts the circle of Healing Stones around her with her mind, and in an instant they get enveloped in the same silver light. Marina closes her eyes, and when she opens them, the soft brown that filled her pupils disappears, as it is covered completely with silvery white color. The light from the stones push outward and finally reaches Cole. Well, good for her.

Meredith is pretty easy to beat. She is less sure of her actions and takes a few seconds late to decide where to attack. What she's really good at is how to use her spear. When the training session shifted to with-weapons mode, Meredith showed her best. She nearly took me out with that double-ended spear of hers, but still, she lacks in strategy.

After the with-weapons mode, we challenge ourselves using our Legacies. Speaking of which, John hasn't told anyone about his new Legacy, and I leave it to him to tell the others what it is. Marina, who is tired from their Healing session, sits out while the rest of us step into the circles I drew in the ground. A new rule Crayton has made about this round is that we aren't allowed to step out of our circle.

In this round, John and I are paired. We wait for Crayton's go signal, and we start after he gives the word. With my mind, I force the ground to move and crack. Vines as thick as my own body grow from the cracks like giant tentacles. They wrap themselves around John's body, but his strength saves him. The vines rip apart loudly and shrink back to where they came from. Next, I am able to create a thunder storm without getting hit by John's Lumen in the form of lasers. Once I feel that the storm overhead is ready, a huge and powerful bolt of lightning touches the Earth—directly over John.

And it happened once again.

John catches the bolt of lightning and absorbs it. The lightning bolt then takes form of an electric light blue sphere in John's hands. I can hear the others fall silent. With shaking hands, John forces the energy outward, back towards me, and during that split second of time I saw his eyes; they were gray with a mixture of dark blue and were glowing faintly. That didn't break my focus though. I divert the lightning bolt down the crack on the ground. The Earth shakes slightly at the encounter, and becomes still. Training continued, but this time, John had an interview with Crayton.

After eating dinner Crayton divides us into three groups. "Sam, Ella, Cole, Marina and few Chimæras will be in charge of healing humans. But be careful. Be anonymous. Cole, after Marina heals everyone in a specific location, it is your job to convince them not to remember anything from the time they got infected.

"Nine, Meredith, John and some of the Chimæras will find the others. Six, Malcolm, the remainder of the Chimæras and I will search for the ship."

He hands the other two groups a phone each before I shout, "I can't be separated from John!"

"We have no choice. He's an Animal Telepath. He has to go with them," Crayton yells back.

"I don't want to leave Six either, Crayton! What about the others? Are they separated from their mates? No! So why us?" John says in defense. "This is exactly why we didn't want to split up in the first place!"

"We have no choice. It's now or never. We leave tomorrow, nothing said. Alright?" Crayton concludes. We don't answer. I can't be separated from John. I won't be able to live that way. I might as well die of worry on the search. But, like Crayton says, we have no choice. John and I will have to go in different directions. Far from each other. Without any idea what happened to the other.

"Fine," John and I whisper in unison, and we are the first to leave the discussion that night.


	10. Chapter 10: John

**Chapter Ten**

**John**

"How could he just separate us like that?" Six exclaims once I close the door. She starts pacing around the room, continuously running her hands through her golden mess of curly hair. "I mean, how come the others aren't separated?"

"I know how you feel, if not I feel worse," I say, stopping her in mid-pace with a hug from behind, "because I know I won't be there to hold you tight when it happens again." I turn her around so that she's facing me, and I can see the total look of worry reflected in her eyes. I haven't seen Six worry like this so much before. With this look in her eyes, the tough girl that saved my ass in countless occasions melts away.

"I just…I have a bad—a very bad—feeling about this, John," Six says. I cup her cheek with my hand and press my lips against hers comfortingly. It seems like it's been forever when I pull away. I let my forehead touch hers and whisper, "As long as I'm around, nothing, no one, not even Setrákus will ever hurt you."

"But you won't be there, John," Six says with a sad frown.

"There are always ways for me to see you, Six. You just have to believe me. I will always be in your dreams," I say, somewhat giving Six a clue. I'm planning on sending her a dream message every night starting tomorrow. Call me even an overly attached boyfriend, I don't care. I love Six, and I will always love her.

I did not notice that we are near the foot of the bed until Six pushes me and I fall on my back with her on my chest. She chuckles slightly, and a strand of hair falls in front of her face. Six blows it away childishly, which I find cute of her. I smile and brush that pesky strand of hair away, putting it behind her ear. God, she looks beautiful. Prettier than anyone else in the universe, with that soft look in her eyes and the slight blush that fills her cheeks when I kiss her soft lips. As the kisses become intense, I roll to my side and pull myself over Six without letting her feel my weight. Six's hands trace the plains on my chest, all the way down to the hem of my shirt. She tugs at it, so I break our kiss for two seconds just to take it off. I throw my shirt away and press my lips once again on Six's, this time hungrily. My lips graze her jaw line, to the hollow behind her ear and down to her neck. I can feel Six shiver in response when I lightly kiss her collarbone.

Six and I haven't gotten this intense in a while. I have to say that I've miss this. And besides, tonight will be the last night I'll have her beside me, so I'd better make the best of it.

I detach my lips from Six's collarbone and look her in the eyes. The anxiety is still there though. I lightly kiss her forehead and whisper, "I love you." The worry and the fear that filled her eyes wash away when she whispers back to me, "I love you more." I smile and bend my head towards hers, our lips glues to each other once more.

* * *

When I wake up, it is morning—the very thing I'm dreading.

Six has her head on my left arm like a pillow, her breaths tickling my skin. My other arm is draped over her thin waist. She's still asleep. Six looks younger when she's asleep, without those worry lines and other blemishes that hide her true beauty. Right now, she looks like a young adult, her face relaxed and gorgeous. It would be a shame to wake her up, but sadly, she just did.

"Why are you looking at me?" she whispers groggily after closing her eyes again.

"You're just so beautiful," I say, lightly kissing down the side of her face.

"And since when were you this cheesy, John?"

"Is it wrong of me to marvel at my girlfriend?" I ask her, smiling when I feel her shiver.

"Great, John. Now I have to pee," Six complains, throwing my arm off her waist and rolling to her side so that she can pull herself over me. I grunt slightly when her elbow hits my ribs. "I don't want to go," Six says. I sigh and say, "Me neither."

"But it's for the world's sake, so put some clothes on."

* * *

In no time at all, we are ready to leave. But I wasn't ready to say good-bye.

"I want a motorcycle, Cole, not a monster truck," Six says just before Crayton, Malcolm and Cole leave for car shopping. "Isn't riding a motorcycle almost giving away your identity?" I ask, helping Six repack her things.

"Not if I wear a helmet and act like a boyish badass," she replies with small smile, but in her eyes I see that she isn't ready to leave too.

While Crayton and the others are out, we are silent. No one had the heart to talk, especially Six and me. Ella also looks nervous. She is constantly lifting things up and down with her mind or spewing ten doppelgangers per second and making them disappear a minute later. For an eleven-year-old, she certainly does not act her age. I can tell the others are worried as well. Sam keeps on fidgeting, checking and rechecking the list of items he intends to bring. Meredith and Nine are outside, practice-fighting. Marina, with a plastic bag and towel in her hand, places the Healing Stones on the towel. She wraps the stones with it, places it in the plastic bag and stuffs it in her backpack.

When Cole, Crayton and Malcolm return, Crayton says, "We have to leave. We have an entire planet to protect."

The motorcycle Cole got is cherry red and very new. Six thanks Cole silently and throws her heavier bag inside the SUV Crayton and Malcolm are going to take. Something makes noise in the bag when it hits the back seat, so I'm assuming it must be filled with weapons. Afterwards she puts her other bag, the one with her clothes, near the front wheel of her motorcycle.

The Chimæras are loaded in each vehicle as well as the others. They're ready. But I'm not.

Six brushes the dirt off her black skinny jeans as she stands up from beside the motorcycle. Her eyes are slightly red, suggesting she was crying. She looked really badass and beautiful. Under the leather jacket I didn't know she owns is a gray tee. She's also wearing the Converse she used when we went to Manhattan. It pains me to see her in tears, and even more when I know that I won't be there to protect her. I approach her and pull her in a tight embrace. "Everything will be fine, Six. I promise," I say, feeling her tears wet my shirt. Six looks at me, tears streaming down her cheeks. I wipe those away with my thumb and kiss her softly. "I love you, and I will see you tonight," I whisper, my forehead touching hers.

"I know. I love you too. Be safe, John," she says, and Six kisses me one last time before she leaves.

I watch as she slings the straps of her backpack through her arms, swings her right leg over the motorcycle and starts the engine. Six looks back at me once, and after managing a small smile, she puts her helmet on and takes off, with Crayton and Malcolm's SUV in her wake. I watch her until she becomes a small dot in the distance, even with my enhanced vision. After that, I walk to the pickup truck where Nine, Meredith and the group of Chimæras are. Bernie Kosar is one of them, and he barks at me from the back of the truck. _I'll keep you company, John. Six will be fine, _he says to me, and the other Chimæras chime in. I hop on the truck bed and, as Nine starts the engine, can't help but wish Six is beside me.


	11. Chapter 11: Six

**Chapter Eleven**

** Six **

All the while as I drive away, I look at John's reflection on my rear view mirror. Tears don't stop streaming down my cheeks. I know that if I should drive, I should hold back the tears until we rest for the day.

"Keep going west, Six," Crayton whispers through the ear piece in my right ear. I don't reply. I just stare at the rear view mirror, occasionally watching the road, as John's figure shrinks from afar. When he disappears, I blink the last of my tears away and focus on the road.

Crayton is taking us to Indiana first, about thirteen hours away at the most. Thirteen hours of missing John. On the road I swerve in and out of lines, my other, boyish self taking over the wheel. Where are John and the others headed? Is he okay? Will he be safe? Oh, many questions are making my head spin, but I have to keep it together. I have to focus.

Crayton takes the lead, and I follow. "Where are they?" I ask using the matching mouthpiece concealed under my helmet.

"They're going southwest from Manhattan. Don't worry, Six. John will be fine," Crayton says. Yeah, right. With John being a total idiot at times, he'll get killed or easily hurt within a day. And that is what worries me. I put on a burst of speed and bypass Crayton's SUV and a few other cars, ignoring their car horns as I whiz past. _Oh, John, _I think to myself, _be careful._

* * *

Hours later, Crayton pulls over in a nearby gas station to fill the truck up and also, according to him, Malcolm needs to use the bathroom. We also need to buy food for the Chimæras we brought along with us, which includes Elizabeth, Bernie Kosar's girlfriend.

So, here I am, parked near the convenience store beside the gas station, waiting for the two of them. I had my helmet off, so to conceal my identity, I use the sunglasses Crayton found at the old house. It suits me well, as I see my reflection in the rear view mirror. John would be drooling over me if he saw me like this; badass, dangerous and downright fierce. I like that.

But, sadly, it attracted too much attention.

Three boys from the convenience store strut from the entrance to where I was parked. They have the same build, same height, and same brutal faces, with tight muscle shirts and army pants. They must be the owners of the monster truck behind me. _Show-offs, _I think. One of them, the one in the middle, had tattoos on his arms that are too many to count. He had military-style hair, and so do the other two. "Hey, you with the bike!" the first one yells, even though he's like three feet from me. He puts his hands in his pockets and attempts to look cute, but honestly, he looks like a pig on steroids, with a squashed up nose to be precise.

"What's your problem with my bike?" I say, feeling my insides boil up inside me. Ever since the battle in Virginia, I tend to get angry easily.

"Nothing, it's just that, may I have your name," he says in mock formal gesture. Fuck this guy. I clench my fists and stand up violently, surprising the three men. "Don't piss me off, asshole," I say, as venomous as I can allow myself. The sky above gets dark, rapidly, unlike usual. I can easily beat up these bastards with my eyes closed, but would it be better to vaporize them on the spot?

"Maren!" I hear Crayton yell behind me, but I ignore him. I take a step closer to the group of assholes, and without warning, my fist collides with their leader's left cheek forcefully. That's going to leave a bruise, or even an open wound. "Never mess with a bitch like me, jerk," I say, spinning around with my hair flipping. I take my shades off and slip my helmet on, driving away before Malcolm can even shut the door of the SUV.

* * *

"You nearly blew your cover!" Crayton exclaims in the motel room three of us are going to share for the night. We've made at least nine hours of journey, from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon.

"I never had one! And besides, those assholes pissed me off!" I yell in defense. Crayton is still angry at me for beating the "poor guy" up from the convenience store. John would have been so jealous and even angrier than me if he saw that.

"You should keep yourself in check!" Crayton says.

"He shouldn't have angered me in the first place!"

"What's done is done. We just have to get some rest," Malcolm concludes, but the tension between Crayton and me has reached its peak that thunder cackles outside. "Fine, but I get the phone, for a while," I say, holding my hand out to Crayton. When John said the words, "I will always be in your dreams," I understood it immediately. Crayton seems reluctant to give it to me, but in the end, he hands me the iPhone.

Only two entries are in the contact book of this phone; John's phone and the one Marina and her group has. I dial John's number and wait. Three rings…what if he's in trouble? What if he's captured? Oh…

"Hello, Six?" John says immediately.

"How are you?" we say in unison, making me smile a little. "Why did you call? Are you about to sleep?" John asks excitedly.

"Yep. I'll be waiting, John."

"I love you," he whispers.

"I love you too," I say before hanging up. "I'll go to sleep now, wake me up after about five hours." I grab a blanket and a pillow, slump on the couch and let my thoughts wander to John, with that smile on his lips and the tenderness in his eyes…

* * *

The dream came as soon as I close my eyes.

I remember the darkness that swallowed me at first when I was in Virginia, but when I closed my eyes, I am instantly swept away without going there. I feel the pressure of the wind squeeze me, like I'm forcefully thrust through a tight hole. When I can finally breathe again, I'm back in that grassy field under that bright blue sky. Flowers of periwinkle blue are everywhere. The wind ripples past the tall grass, and this time, John is here, a huge stupid grin on his face. "Six…" John says as he nearly beats the air out of my lungs with a bone-crushing hug. "How are you? Where are you now?" I ask, not daring to pull away. "Somewhere in Virginia. Animal attacks are reported there, and Nine says that it's a Chimæra," John replies, "How much time do you have?"

I say, "About five hours. I think Crayton's taking first watch."

"That's all the time we need," John says, and he presses his lips against mine. If only this were real…

John breaks the kiss, and clutches his head like something is hurting him. "John!" I yell in panic. Could this day get any worse?

I guess I spoke too soon.

John lies still, flat on his back with a blank look in his eyes. "John?" I say, fear building up in my chest. What's happening?

I clutch John's shoulders in attempt to wake him up, but instead I feel electricity surge through my veins, and all of a sudden, the fields are gone, replaced by a blood red sky and a barren land. Wait a second, I know this place. This is Mogadore. But, how?

John stands beside me, his eyes just as wide. I still have my hands on his shoulders. Then, that means…

I'm in John's premonition.


	12. Chapter 12: Six

**Chapter Twelve**

**Six**

I frantically look around and take in my surroundings. A hundred Mogs are in sight, more of the low-ranked ones instead of the soldiers. I can tell by the color of their skin and the way they move around. Instead of ashy gray, the common Mogadorian has moldy green skin, with gray dotting everywhere. God, they look awful, like broken statues half covered with moss. Each one of them hurriedly moves from one place to another, and a Mogadorian about my height passes right through me, as if I'm just a ghost in this place, which I think I am. John is silent, looking around as well. I look deep into his eyes, trying to say, _What happened? Why are we here?_

John understands, because not a second later he replies, _I don't know that yet. But all I know is that we have to see what's happening in there._ We stare at each other, stunned by what we just witnessed. So, since our minds are connected now, we can communicate through that kind of connection?

_Where?_ I ask.

John's spirit self points to the mound of rocks guarded by no less than twenty soldiers in the distance. What's so special about those rocks? Why are they guarding it? What secrets does it hold?

With a tug of my hand, John and I float towards it in silence, watching the Mogadorians scurry from place to place with that horrified looks on their faces I still don't quite understand. I think about how Katarina used to described them as vicious and mean-looking, like the soldiers we're about to face now. I did not at all expect that they would be as scared and fragile as this.

We have just reached what I thought before was a rock pile. Now I can clearly see what it really is.

Under the red sky, I see it is a fortress with uneven and chapped stones and boulders, somewhat relating to an ancient medieval castle, except for the part where the wooden drawbridge-slash-door is replaced by a big hole. I am reminded of the time Katarina let me watch the movie "Underworld: Evolution", where there was a fort that looks like this…sort of.

What worries me most is what lies beyond the hole on the front wall. I can feel evil radiate from it, sending shivers that run down my spine. John floats ahead, but does not break my hold, even if I lessened the pressure of my grip on his hand. I let him drag me over the entrance of this scary place. Before we enter the fortress, I stop instantly. Memories from the cave that haunted me my entire life flash through my mind. John grips my shoulders, realizing the fear I'm facing. I suddenly feel very childish, scared of the dark and the monsters it conceals. John cups my face in his translucent hands and says, _You can do this. I'll be by your side no matter what._

With a sharp intake of breath, I nod and John pulls me along, entering the mouth of this monster fort.

The darkness in here seems unending, forever spreading. The architecture in the inside is worse than that of the outside. On my right is what used to be a stone pillar and on my left, past John's almost translucent figure, is another that seems so worn and old that even with a weak earthquake, this place would still crumble down.

I flinch when I hear a disappointed growl from one of the upper floors. John looks up, and hauls me upwards, passing through the ceiling and onto the floor of the second floor, and the third, until I hear the voices more clearly and I know that we're directly below the commotion. "What do you mean 'cannot be awakened'?" I hear a familiar angry voice say. Setrákus.

"Sir, what I am reporting is a certified fact from the mouths of our scientists. He can't be awakened that early," replies another voice, a voice thick with hardness so as not to let fear show.

"The Loric are getting stronger and more powerful as we speak, especially that female, the one who refused to join him on our side. The faster you reboot him after his long sleep, the quicker we can destroy the last of the Lorics." Even in this illusion, I can feel John tense at the word "female". A nerve on his jaw is twitching, and his brows are furrowed. "Speaking of which, what is their status, soldier?" asks Setrákus.

John motions for me to float higher, and together, we rise until we're high enough to see through the dimly lit room.

Setrákus, with that gruesome scar of his, sits on a metal chair with tubes and the like attached to every one of his limbs, maybe three each, if not, more. There are marks on his body that I don't recognize. A few burns are revealed on his arms. The soldier whom he is having a conversation with is beside a machine where the tubes on Setrákus' limbs are connected. He looks weak, but is regaining his strength. In a few months' time, probably when the virus will spread throughout the U.S., he may be powerful again.

"They have divided themselves under circumstances we don't know yet, sir. A group remained in Manhattan, where one of our weapon sites is. Another is in Virginia, near the part where our headquarters used to be. The last is halfway from Indiana, sir," replies the soldier.

Setrákus nods weakly, and says, "Prepare the ship. Load my weapons. Bring him along with me. I want everything ready by next morning. Understood?"

"But sir, you're still recover—"

"Do not tell me what to do, or else you shall suffer the wrath I had released on my last servant! Load the ship, set the coordinates to our Base Quarters," says Setrákus, and with a growl, the soldier marches away. "I will find each of you, and since you're divided, you will be easier to kill." Setrákus looks directly at me, those dark eyes of his piercing through me. I feel the air leave my lungs and John's strangle cry of my name, "Six!" The sounds are muffled so that they sound like a million miles away. I feel John's hand disappear despite my strong hold on him. The entire vision blurs, and I'm back in the motel room where I meet Crayton's worried eyes.

"We're in deep shit, Crayton. Setrákus is planning on arriving here on Earth again. He's talking about a 'Base Quarters' and some guy's powers I think he needs to become more powerful," I say, my voice breaking near the end. So this is what it feels like to receive a vision.

I'm sticky and covered in sweat. My chest is heaving in unimaginable rate, making it ache. But John? What happened to John? Where is he? Is he okay?

"Six, calm down. Here, drink some water," Malcolm offers, handing me a glass of water. I drink everything in less than fifteen seconds. I'm still out of breath though, my mind racing, trying to recover bits and pieces of the dream that threatens to spill away. "Now, Six, tell me; what happened? All of a sudden you were murmuring and twitching, just like…" Crayton says, making sense of the events. "…like Four." Boy, he's smart.

"John sent me a dream message, just to check up on me and then…" I explain, from the dream to the vision of Mogadore, its people and barren lands, the rock fort and what happened in it. Malcolm says, "We have to unite with the others immediately."

"Think about it first. It may be a trap. We still have to find the ship, heal the humans, and find the Chimæras—"

"Crayton, all the Mogs in the area will be focusing on us and the others. This is an advantage. We can lead them to us, lead them into our own trap and it will be a huge success at killing most of them. They're probably the ones who're spreading the poison as we speak," I say, cutting Crayton off.

"But Six, if Setrákus uses a ship with light speed boosters, he'll be here within a month or two. We have to concentrate on what we're looking for; the ship," Crayton says.

"We have to find the others!"

"We search for the ship!"

The argument isn't over yet. I'll make sure of it. The phone rings, and I use telekinesis to pick it up and float it into my hand. I put the phone on speaker and whisper, "Hello?"

"Hello! Six!" Sam yells over the gunfire I hear from the other end of the line, "Six, listen; we managed to get away just in time, but they targeted the hospital where Marina was supposed to heal more people." There's an explosion and Sam grunts. "Sam! Focus! What happened?" Malcolm intervenes, his face growing pale at the sound of his son in the middle of danger.

"Right—they caught up to us. We're supposed to follow John, but they got us cornered. They were expecting it. Two Chimæras are dead and they're on our asses right—"

There is a loud gunshot, and the line is disconnected.


	13. Chapter 13: John

**Chapter Thirteen**

**John**

"Hey! Hey, Four! Wake up, Johnny boy, you're girlfriend's on the phone," Nine yells in my ear. I open my eyes, and instantly regret it. About a thousand blinking lights appear in my vision, and it takes a few seconds for the multicolored stars to disappear. I'm vaguely aware that the Oniro, the stone that allows me to send dream messages, is cutting deeply in my palm. I stand, and feel dizzy, the room around me swimming in and out of focus. All I can think about is the dream—how Six and I shared the same vision and what Setrákus was talking about. Who is this person? Who is the key to Setrákus' invincibility?

"Hey, Four! Get your ass in here!" Nine yells. Boy, when he yells, you'd think he's on the other side of the world when in truth he's just on the other side of the door. "Just wait, dude! And stop yelling!" I say, a little too angrily, "Just give me the damned phone!"

Nine unlocks my door with telekinesis and hands me a ringing phone. His shirt is disheveled as well as his dark hair, and if I'm not mistaken, there is something that looks like lip gloss on the corner of his mouth.

"Now, get out," I say, slamming the door shut with my telekinesis after Nine walks out. I hurriedly press the phone to my ear and say, "Hello?"

"John! What the hell took you so long?" Six says in a panic. I guess her first premonition, which is completely accidental, has startled her. I didn't plan any of this to happen. "I just woke up, Six. And I am so sorry for having you endure that dream. It's just…I did not expect that comi—"

"There's no time for that now. Listen, Sam just called. They're in trouble."

At the word "trouble", I nearly the drop the phone of shock. Oh, what have they gotten themselves into?

Six continues, "He called when I woke up. There were a lot of gunshots and then Sam hung up. I have a feeling that…that he…" She did not have the strength to continue, yet I understand what she was about to say. I fall back on the bed in a sitting position, my face on the cracked mirror on the opposite wall pale. Sam. My best friend. A friend I only managed to save a few weeks ago. And now he's in trouble all over again.

"What do we do?" I ask quietly.

"I don't know. Crayton forbids me to go, John. How on earth are we going to save Sam?"

"Don't sweat it. We'll find them. Just stick to finding the ship, Six. I'll take care of the rest," I say, "Be careful there, Six. I love you."

"I love you too," she whispers, and hangs up. I sigh and let the phone fall out of my hand, catching it with telekinesis instead before it collides with the floor. What am I going to do? What if Nine disagrees to go find Sam and the others? Knowing how much of a bastard that guy could be, I doubt it. Even though his attitude lightened up when Meredith came around, he can still be the same jerk I met back at the cave.

But, it's worth a shot.

I stand up and open my creaky door. Again, thanks to Nine, we settled in this abandoned house in the woods, with ivy crawling up its walls. It looks as if it's been unoccupied for over a year because half its wooden furniture had been feasted by termites, and it's a miracle this thing is still on its feet. Also, we ditched our ride the minute it ran out of gas. "It's a waste of time," Nine had said. So, here we are, in this ancient house, on the way to find the Chimæras.

"Nine?" I ask, hoping he did not take my anger into account seriously a while ago. He's not in his room, and so is Meredith. Where could they be?

When I enter the living room, I wish I hadn't.

Nine is sprawled all over Meredith on the floor, his lips glued to hers, reminding me too much of Six and me, but not the way Nine is doing it. Meredith had begun moaning—no wonder Nine couldn't hear me. He is having the time of his life.

"Dude!" I yell, in disgust, causing the two's heads to snap up. "You could've waited until I was asleep! Or you could've done it in your room! Jesus, man! What the hell!" If you were in my shoes, you would've done the same thing. Seriously.

"You were busy talking to Six, and we practically did it while you were asleep. So, no problem there," Nine says, standing up and picking his shirt off the floor.

"Anyways, what's your problem, Four?" Meredith asks, her face smitten and filled with bliss. Looking at her with that expression plastered on her face makes me want to puke, especially when she shape shifts into Six just to annoy me. "Knock it off," I say, my palms lighting up from the stress and anger. Meredith hastily returns to her original state and walks out of the room. As soon as she's gone, I find myself slammed against the wall with Nine's telekinesis holding me in place. Whatever struggle I make against it is futile. "Don't you dare talk to her like that again!" Nine says, his voice dripping with anger.

"Well, excuse me but I just received a phone call saying that my friend could have gotten hurt and if that doesn't make me stressed, I must be abnormal!" I say, equalizing the tone of my voice with Nine's. "And you are very lucky to have her with you while I nearly dragged Six into something she wasn't supposed to see!"

Nine lets go of me, letting me fall on my side on the floor. I stand up unsteadily, my senses working overtime, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I feel like I'm ready for anything. "What do you mean?" Nine asks, his voice and face masked as to show no emotion.

I explain to Nine about the premonition I shared with Six accidentally. Afterwards, Nine shakes his head. "He's got Cole, Marina and Ella. He'll be fine." But that isn't the answer I was hoping for.

I catch Nine off guard and use my telekinesis to throw him out the door, severely damaging it, throwing it off its hinges. I startle the Chimæras outside by doing so. "Look here, Nine!" I say, holding him up in the air with my mind, "I don't care what you say, but we're going to find and rescue Sam and the other Garde!"

"You have to beat me first!" Nine yells, and with a powerful flex of his arms, he throws me back to the house, crashing through its window as the result of the telekinetic force breaking. I stand up and lunge at Nine, throwing punches everywhere while blocking some of Nine's own. "Stop it!" I hear Meredith yell, but we ignore her. I am not going down in this fight, especially since this is for Sam. And Marina. And Cole. And Ella; little, innocent Ella.

With that determination in me, I push him harder than ever. I can see his movements, but can't find any openings. Nine attempts to put both hands on my throat, but I bat his hands away, exposing his chest. A thought pops into my head, a thought that will lead to my victory. I punch Nine in the sternum hard, sending him backwards. "John, stop!" I hear Meredith yell, rushing over to Nine in a fraction of a second. I don't feel guilt, or remorse for that matter, for what I have done to my fellow Garde. "I beat you. Now, can we go?" I ask, waiting for Nine's surrender.

"Fine, only after we find the Chimæra in these woods," Nine says, spitting a mouthful of blood on the grass.

"I thought we were miles away from it."

"It moves around a lot quickly, and it's settled here. It's not that far actually," Nine says as Meredith helps him stand up. I must have hit him harder than I thought.

Nine has managed to make a few steps when a loud roar comes from the jungle, and a strangled cry of two men.

"Come on!" I yell, beckoning the other Chimæra to follow me into the woods. We follow our ears to the sounds of giant footfalls, and more panicked shrieks. Whatever it is inside these woods, I hope it's just a very hungry grizzly bear or something along those lines, not a piken. It would be hard to explain to the men what it was and where it came from.

_That is not good, _I hear Bernie say, along with the other Chimæras. They have all grown bigger in just split seconds. Bernie, in the form of the beast he once was in Ohio, takes the lead, some of the Chimæras behind him howling like wolves in the night. They all copied the beast BK has taken form of. When we reach about two miles away from the house, I nearly get hit by a body of a man thrown by something stronger than it. Based on the number of hunting gadgets on his bloody vest, this guy must be a Hunter—a dead one.

_Chill, dude. We got this,_ one of the Chimæras say, moving in closer to the beast. I step out into the open and feel my mouth drop.

It is definitely not a grizzly bear, nor a piken. My guesses aren't even close to the beast I'm about to face right now.

This beast is one from myths, not meant to be real. But then again, I believe that there's nothing left in this world that is fantasy, considering being an alien from a distinct place. Nothing in this world is make-believe anymore. Still, I am unsure of what I'm seeing. I have only heard of this beast from my history teacher years ago, when he talked about Greek Mythology.

The beast is larger than Bernie Kosar and lizard-like, standing on clawed feet. It had seven heads in total, like snakes meshed into one scaly body. Two or three of them breathes fire, the very reason why the bushes are ablaze, while the tail behind it whips around, wrapping around men's bodies and throwing them away as if they were rag dolls. I hear Nine behind me ask, "What the hell is that thing?"

_It's a Chimæra alright,_ another Chimæra says.

"I know it is, but what animal is it—"

"It's a Hydra," I say. At the word "hydra", the beast whips all seven heads and stares right at me with its glowing red eyes.


	14. Chapter 14: John

**To my fellow readers: I changed the name "Zakaria" to "Zakarius". If anything changed in this chapter, sorry. This is the original one before I edited it. Anyways...  
**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**John**

The hydra's nostrils flare, sniffing us. _Loric, _all seven of its head say, with a voice raspy and old but beaming with pride and majesty. The remaining men, totaled three, get speared right through their chests by the hydra's tail, suggesting it has a sharp point. _Loric, like my master, _says the hydra, its clawed feet digging into the earth as it walks towards us. Bernie Kosar steps protectively beside me, ready to jump into action at any moment. Two of the hydra's heads snarl at BK, and to my surprise, BK backs off, back hunched towards the ground, making low growling sounds. The other Chimæra do the same. I now wonder how special this Chimæra can be and who is its master.

"Um…who is your master?" Nine asks, as if he is reading my mind. The heads of the hydra turn towards him, red eyes glowing with a look that makes me feel like I'm being tested. The hydra sits down on the ground while the other Chimæras lie down, shrinking back to domestic dogs with their heads on their paws. Some are whining, while the others, like Bernie, remain their harmony of growling noises.

The hydra's bloodstained tail loses its scales, shrinking down to the length of my arm. The seven heads merge with each other, contracting to a single broad neck and head. The gigantic serpentine body reduces in size, and its scales are replaced by long and coarse black fur. The Chimæra takes form of a huge black wolf, merciless to hunters in the night. When it opens its eyes, they are no longer red and glowing. They are a silvery blue color that seems to glow in the dark. The wolf speaks and we listen, _My master is great and powerful and intelligent. He left me here to do my mission, a mission I accepted freely. Not once in my miserable life here in this planet did I ever complain or regret my duty, for it is my master's will, and I honor my master. _

_His name is Pittacus Lore, Greatest of the Elders, and I, his faithful servant Zakarius, will serve him until the end of time. I continue to await his good remarks, for he always does that every time I win battles for him. For more than twenty years I have guarded this place, killing unwanted trespassers, just to make my master proud._

"What exactly did Pittacus ask of you?" I ask, and the wolf replies once more with his majestic voice, _Master told me to guard the way back home. As much as I want to go back to my master, I know there is nowhere to go, and I would be defying my master's orders. For years I have ignored the temptation to go back home, where I know my master is waiting for me, like a common dog patiently waiting to go on walks in the afternoons with its master._

"What did he say?" Meredith asks. I forgot about her. She can't talk to animals unlike Nine and me, so I tell Nine to translate for her while the wolf and I continue the conversation. "What are you guarding?" I ask.

The wolf stands on all fours, and in the shadows of the night, he looks like a furry horse. _Let me show you, _the wolf says, and with a nod of his head, the other Chimæras take the same form as him, only with a variety of colors; medium gray, silvery white, gray with dots of white, chocolate brown, but none of them tower over the black wolf, their alpha. Bernie Kosar, the wolf with gray fur, gives me a ride on his back, while Meredith and Nine will run with us. "Wait!" I say, "What about our stuff?"

_I'll guard it, _says the wolf with gray and specks of white, and he turns around and bolts back the way we came, tail flopping. _He needs another, _Zakarius says, Pittacus' servant. The wolf with brown fur hastens away without another word, so to speak. _Follow me, _Zakarius says, and with great speed, he runs, disappearing into the darkness. Bernie Kosar follows him, running at a speed that makes me clutch his long fur for support. Zakarius leads us west, far from our house. Nine runs along Bernie Kosar while Meredith flanks him, her red hair whipping across her face. _Master told me that a ship with ten children will disappear and delay their return. So, he left one with me, just in case, and told me to protect it from those horrible people of Mogadore. Oh, if only Master could see how many I have killed since the day he shipped me here, he would be beaming with pride. _"How long have you been here?" I ask again.

_Master sent me here when the first child was born, twenty years ago. That is how early Master prepares for the future, and how intelligent he plans it. He makes sure that those ten children will get here safely, and return the same way. Duty or not, I am prepared as well to take higher risks just to save the remaining children, as my master would have done if he was here._

Zakarius' words hit me. He's saying it was okay for him to die at the hands of the enemy only to keep us safe, like our Cêpans. I am so touched by his words that when Bernie jumps over a log, I nearly fell off his back because I slackened my grip on his fur. I apologize and he keeps running, telling me it was his fault. Truly, the Loric, animals and people alike, are really unique. We are different from the other beings in the galaxy, which care not for the others that love them. "Zakarius, what did Pittacus mean when he said that the ship will disappear?" Nine asks.

Zakarius stops at the edge of the triangular clearing, and the moment Bernie Kosar crosses the tree line that protects us from prying eyes, I can feel a different kind of connection to this part of the Earth. I feel a different energy coursing through me. All of a sudden, as I slide down from Bernie's back and onto the soft grass, I feel like a four-year-old. With that fresh night breeze and this lush grassy land, I don't see Earth anymore. I see Lorien's finest, and I'm happy about it. I want to go home so badly that I forgot about my purpose to this world and ours. I no longer care about the fact that the Mogadorians are trying to erase any signs of life in this planet. All I want to do is go back home.

_Follow me, _Zakarius repeats, breaking me from my reverie. The clouded image of Lorien disappears before my eyes, and it takes me a few seconds for me to react to Zakarius' order. By the bewildered and slightly disappointed look on Nine and Meredith's faces, I can tell they felt it too. Zakarius trots to the middle of the clearing and sits down, his fur rippling with the wind. Bernie Kosar turns back into a beagle, his tongue dangling from the corner of his mouth as he walks beside me. _Must…not…roll…on…the…grass, _BK kept muttering to himself. I roll my eyes at him and stand beside Zakarius. "So…what'll happen now?" Meredith asks with awkwardness thick in her voice. _Master told me that only a Garde with his Legacies can locate his ship._

"Six!" I yell, and fumble for the iPhone in my pockets, but I remember it's in the house. I'm about to turn on my heel to get it when Nine yells, "Hold up, man."

"What?"

"What if this is a trap? Why would Pittacus even bother to put another ship here when two of it—ours and Crayton's ship—are here on Earth?" There is a blur of black and Zakarius is on Nine, front paws slammed against his arms, strapping him in place. Zakarius' eyes release that red glow as he stares angrily at Nine. His lips are curled back and his ears are erect, and Zakarius begins to snarl, showing off his incisors threateningly. Zakarius' teeth are far sharper than I expected. If Nine makes one wrong move, I bet those sharp, pearly whites will rip his throat to shreds in less than two seconds.

_Do not question my master! He is intelligent! He does everything with a purpose! _Zakarius snarls. His hackles rose. Nine does not move, his face a hard emotionless mask and nearly touching Zakarius' nose. Whatever Nine is thinking, I hope he's considering every option. The guy is just too unpredictable. "Stop it! Zakarius, what would Pittacus say about you attacking of the Ten?" I say, trying to talk some sense to Zakarius. He steps off Nine, tail between his legs and he was whimpering. _I dishonored my master. I defied his wishes, _he says, sitting down with his back hunched, head bowed low. Zakarius sucks in a deep breath and howls loudly in misery of having disobeyed what Pittacus would have commanded. I leave him to his mourning and run as fast as I can back to the house, ignoring Nine's persuasive comments and Zakarius' agonized howls.

I understand how Zakarius feels. I always felt that way when I deliberately disobeyed Henri, many times over in Paradise. When I refused to leave, and what did I get as punishment? Henri died because of me. And now, like Zakarius, I want to shout out everything I regret to lift this weight from my chest. I'd give anything to go back in time, change everything and bring Henri back. But I know what's done is done, and now I have to live with that kind of pain clinging tightly to me for the rest of my life.

When I break free from the tight-packed trees, I don't see the Chimæras on guard. What I see in front of the house is a red motorcycle and an SUV.


	15. Chapter 15: John

**Sorry for the late update. I'm on a very busy schedule and homework is piling up on my list. I had to stop writing first. I changed the name "Zakaria" to "Zakarius". Anyways...  
**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**John**

"Six!" I yell, running towards the house. Six, at the sound of her name, appears at the door, her hair a rat's nest. She's wearing the same clothes I saw her in before she left, with her sunglasses hanging from the front of her t-shirt. "John," she says in a daze, as if she could not believe her eyes. With five long strides, I reach Six and wrap my arms tightly around her, not daring to let go. Not again. I breathe in the scent of her hair and feel her tears wet the side my neck at the show of affection and emotion. "I knew we never should have split up," Six says, not breaking away from me.

"Well, at least it's short lived," I say, and I feel her smile against my neck. I let go of her and cup her face in my hands, using my thumbs to wipe away her tears. I meet Six's lips with mine, the feeling of the warmth that spreads from there unimaginably perfect. "Nice to see you too, John," Malcolm says, and I can hear his fatherly smile in his voice. I pull away from Six and let my hands fall to my sides, keeping a hold on Six's hand. "Malcolm, as Sam's father, I will do everything it takes to get your son back. He's my best friend. I owe him that," I say solemnly. Malcolm's smile turns gloomy. I couldn't blame him; he just recently reunited with his son and now he thinks he'll lose him. I promise myself that I will get Sam back.

"Anyways," I say to break the silence, "Nine, Meredith and I have something to tell you. Follow me." With Six's hand still in mine, I tell the Chimæras to grab whatever bags they can and give a ride to Malcolm and Crayton since they can't run as fast as us. The Chimæras Six brought with her take the form of the others—wolves. Elizabeth, Bernie's girlfriend, looks skinnier and smaller than the rest, but is still as lethal looking. They grab whatever they can, and the stronger ones let Malcolm and Crayton ride on them. Together, we race through the woods as I explain everything, from Zakarius' story to the triangular clearing.

* * *

When we reach the tree line, the Chimæras walk in first, and I brace myself for that new feeling; the feeling of home.

That same energy fills me with life and glee that I have to stop myself from jumping up and down. Six, as she takes in the scene, has a glazed look in her eyes. So does Crayton. But when I look at Six, it's not as if she's cherishing her memories of Lorien. It's as if she's trying to remember something dear to her. Zakarius stands upon our arrival. _Who are these? One of them is not Loric, _he says, and when his eyes fall on Six's confused face, he bends down, as if he is bowing down to her. Six, disregarding this act of reverence, only snaps back to earth when I nudge her shoulder. "Zakarius," she says. Zakarius' head snaps up at the sound of his name, and says, _Master's descendant! We can all go home!_

"Not yet," Six says, and everyone's attention is on her. She ignores us though. How did she understand Zakarius? Is she developing the same Legacy Nine and I share? "We still have to find the others and the Chimæras for your army. Zakarius, we need to find your army immediately. Now that we found the ship, our destiny can no longer wait."

"Six…" Nine says in amusement, "how did you do that?"

"Do what?" Six asks, her eyes narrowed as if she did not notice anything at all. Nine looks from me to Six and back again. I simply shrug my shoulders at him when his eyes fall on me, telling the truth; I have no idea about this turn of events. "I mean…how did you communicate with Zakarius?"

"It's as simple as pie. I mean, I only hear him in my head—" Crayton cuts Six off. "Can you understand the rest of them?" he asks her, but Six shakes her head. She places a hand on Zakarius' shoulder and pats it gently. "I can only hear him. Anyways, how can we summon the others?"

I shake my head and shrug once again. But Six is right; we found the ship. We can't delay our return to Lorien. We've just waited too long. We've harbored too many fantasies and visions of home, and now that we're just a stone's throw away from our destiny, there's no stopping us.

_Leave that to me, _Zakarius says, and sucking in a lungful of air, he howls, loud enough for even us Lorics to cover our ears. Six seem unaffected, and instead studies the trees surrounding the clearing. She studies each one as Zakarius continues to howl, and one by one, Chimæras from where we came from enter the clearing. I don't know how he did that, and I don't intend to disturb Zakarius' ongoing howls. Bernie, sensing my thoughts, answers my question anyways, _The alpha's call is always unavoidable. Only Chimæras would be able to hear and respond to his call._

"I have movement over here!" Nine yells, averting my gaze from the animals. He hands me the phone hastily, and I see five blue dots in this exact location, meaning us, and three more on the way, followed by endless red ones. "Uhh…Six? You may want to hurry up, Mogs are getting closer!"

"I'm trying…" she whispers to herself, and after walking around the clearing, she claps her hands excitedly. "The trees! The trees are the answer!" I look at her with my mouth opened, not understanding a word she said. How can the trees be the answer? There are like millions of trees in this part of the entire continent. The last of the Chimæras enter the clearing, and soon, it was tight-packed with wolves. "Six, what do you mean?" I ask, weaving in and out of the wolf pack without stepping on their tails until I reach her. I grab hold of her shoulders and look deep into her eyes. She looks at me, the look on her face between frantic and excited—or probably both. "Look at the sides of the clearing, John. Three trees stand out on each side. They're about a few inches forward. Nine trees, nine Garde. Three are dead, and three have come to replace them; Sam, Malcolm and Crayton. We have to position ourselves on our own tree!"

I look around, trying to make sense of her words. She's right again; three abnormally tall and thick trees line the entire clearing, as if they grew that way. I step near the first tree on the right side and instantly, that three begins to emit a blue glow. "John, stay there!" Six says, telling Zakarius to usher the other Chimæras at the center. "Everybody! Find your respective place!" Six says, the sweat beading on her forehead. She looks like a mad teacher trying to calm some ADHD students down and place them at a single spot. I try to do my best not to make her mad, but odds are she already is.

"Meredith!" Six yells overhead, "Over here!" Meredith follows, her back rigid, and goosebumps forming on her arms. Six places her two trees away from me, and when Meredith stands in front of her tree, it glows, just like mine. The energy in the field is getting gradually stronger, as I can feel it in my entire being.

Nine's name is called. He walks casually beside Meredith, as he passes Six, he says, "Yes, Your Highness."

"Don't mock me," Six says threateningly, the glow in her eyes nearly as bright as our trees. "Zakarius! Tell your army to make a circle around me. Tell them to take whatever luggage they can, and keep it with them."

_Yes, ma'am, _Zakarius says, and with a bow, he obliges to Six's command. They each grab a bag with their mouths and sit in a protective circle around Six. "Now, we wait for—"

"Mogs! Mogs everywhere!" Cole yells, from the across the clearing. He stands still for a second and looks at the trees, our formation, everything with his mouth hanging open. Ella bumps into him, sweat on her forehead, her chest heaving, but she relaxes the minute she enters the field. Marina follows, and Sam as well. "Sam!" I yell, and I'm about to step away from my tree when Six yells, "Don't! You'll break the connection! Cole, stand beside John, now! Marina, beside Cole. And Ella, stay beside Nine. Just tell us about what happened on the way."

They walk with an amazed look on their faces. When they step in front of their trees, the clearing becomes nearly filled with bright light. I'm betting that the Mogs can see us right now, and will ambush us in twenty seconds.

"Crayton, Malcolm and Sam, the remaining three trees on my left," Six says, her voice strangled yet as excited as ever. I hold in a deep breath and as, one, two, three trees ignite with blue light, a radiation of Loric energy comes to life, from Six, who is in the middle of us all. The trees ablaze with light create energy of their own, beams of electricity stretching upwards until the meet at a point. The Loric energy keeps on radiating, filling us with new power after every surge. I hear Mog shouts and firing cannons, but somehow, they seem like they came from a million miles away. A strong gust of wind nearly pushes us towards the center, where Six is. "Hang on!" she says over the noise of swirling wind now threatening to deafen us. The last surge of energy comes, and stops once it encloses all of us in an electric force field. The trees show off their brightest light yet and the energy field contracts, closing in on us. With every breath that I take, my heart hammers more, more and more until my chest begins to ache out of near suffocation. The wind is now blocking all sounds, and with a threatening boom and a magnetic hum of electricity, everything is gone. As I'm sucked inside what I think is a black hole, I lose consciousness and only wake when my cheeks tingle from numbness on some ice-cold floor.


	16. Chapter 16: Six

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Six**

The journey is short and brief yet harder than I expected.

First of all, I had to use nearly all of my energy to draw some from those trees. It was the trees that gave off that energy, the energy that reminded me of Lorien. I don't know why, but something in those trees, probably a stone of some sort, came from Lorien; or maybe Pittacus left a device that allows us to teleport in that clearing. Either way, I don't care—what I care about is where the heck we are now.

Secondly, the Mogadorians became a very, very annoying distraction. I had to use my Legacies while bonding my energy to the trees'. Therefore, while the energy surges outward, my Legacies also act with it. Electricity from the lightning I created outside mixed with the combined power of the trees destroyed all those Mogs—I hope.

Lastly, the force of the wind that bore down on me was powerful. In the middle of the teleportation procedure, my knees were shaking and my strength wavered, but I knew I had to be strong. I had to get us out of here. I don't consider teleporting a Legacy. Katarina once told me stories about Lorics moving from a planet to another, and ships were only back-up plans. She just didn't tell me how.

Until now, as I rest for a while, I don't know how I did all of those things. It's just that, when John brought us to that clearing, memories flashed through my eyes. What I remember from the travel to Earth was most vivid. I saw the other Garde horsing around while I sit by the window, deep in thought. I remember young Four sitting beside me once, handing me his toy to play with. If I'm not mistaken, I saw his cheeks turn bright red. I didn't remember why I was sitting by the window until I saw Zakarius.

I have dreamt of this place. It actually came to me during our year-long trip. I dreamt that I was walking in a green field, but not on Lorien. Lorien would have been prettier. I followed my name through that part of the woods until it opened into the clearing. I saw Pittacus standing there, in the very middle. He welcomed me into that place, and when I was within three feet of him, I bowed as an act of reverence. "The answers are everywhere, dear one," he says as I straightened up, "everything you need is right here." As a child, I didn't understand what he meant, but I nodded anyways. And then I remember waking up in cold sweat in spite of the good dream. Katarina, Four and his Cêpan were there, watching me, trying to wake me up. The memory faded away when John nudged me on the shoulder.

Being able to communicate with Zakarius is another thing. But when he first spoke in my head, it felt very natural that I didn't notice anything at first. Maybe it's because he's my ancestor's servant. I can't bear to call Zakarius a pet because no pet would ever, ever treat its master with that amount of respect.

Anyways, I'm the first to wake up in this place, even though I'm the most exhausted one. When we landed in this place I hit my head as well, yet I know deep in my subconscious mind that I have to pull myself up and take us home.

I pull myself up to my elbows and grunt slightly when I open my eyes. The pain in my head made me see multicolored stars. I blink them away and take my first real look of this place. The others are on a cold black tiled floor with their reflections on it. John is just beside me, his mouth half open. The Chimæras are nowhere to be found. I stand up uneasily and realize we're in a rectangular conference room, a planning room. There is a map of Earth on one side, and another unknown to me. I approach one, carefully not stepping on the others' sleeping bodies. The map parallel to Earth's is one I don't recognize. Loric symbols are underneath it, and for some reason, I understand what it read; Mogadore.

I look at the faded representation of the planet whose inhabitants destroyed mine. I feel my blood boil at the very sight of its barren lands, so I turn away and avoid the temptation to burn it—besides, it's not like Mogadore will burn to ashes if I do it. That map might be useful for planning battles, like the one that will decide our fate.

"Six?" someone asks behind me. I turn around, and find John on his elbows. He ruffles his hair once and stands up unsteadily. The others begin to wake up as well. Sam and Malcolm wake up last. "Where are we?" Sam asks.

"Let's find out," I say. I push past the others and face clear glass doors with pale blue handles. The handles are cold but they turn warm when I touch them. With a deep breath I push the doors open and, as John holds my hand in his, walk through the corridor on my left.

The end of the corridor is split yet again. "Let me lead. This reminds me of my other ship," Crayton says. "You have a ship?" Cole asks, unable to hide the disbelief in his voice as we climb the stairs.

"I'm a cargo man. I used to take goods back and forth between Lorien and other planets. Lorics only trade rare fruits and clothes and some common metals, but never the stones as rare as Loralite. It's forbidden. Pittacus decreed that we are not allowed to share with others the very reason why we win battles," Crayton explains. We reach the top and the floor we're on is filled with rooms. This must be the bedroom chambers.

"Wrong floor," Nine says, and we walk back down again. This time we make a turn on the left and Crayton nearly bumps into Zakarius. _Sorry, _I hear Zakarius say in my head, _I did not mean to bump into your Cêpan._

"There's nothing to apologize for, Zakarius. He isn't my Cêpan, but he might as well be. He's the last Cêpan alive," I say. Zakarius nods his head and says, _This way to the control panel. I myself will give you a tour after we have launched._

We follow Zakarius through the twists and turns. The walls are purely gray and black, stone and metal. "So, this is the ship?" Sam asks.

_Yes, _Zakarius says, and Nine, John and I repeat what he said in unison.

We pass a few rooms as well. Once I spotted a training room, and I make a mental note to remember where it is. John keeps a hold on my hand. Zakarius makes three right turns and a left one, and finally, he stops in front of a heavily armored metal door. _The control room lies beyond. Only you, _Zakarius looks at me directly in the eyes, _can access it. _

I loosen my fingers around John's hand, and after reassuring him I won't do anything stupid, I approach the metal door. Besides, I don't do stupid. It doesn't run in my vocabulary.

With a deep breath, I touch the door. My pendant grows hot and gives off that blue glow. At first I can tolerate the heat, but when I really feel the burn I had to take my pendant off. I notice the chain is burning hot as well, so I let it drop onto the floor. But when I take my pendant off, the feeling of weakness and being fragile washes over me and my knees start to buckle. I fall over, but luckily John is there to catch me. My breathing is shallow. I feel tired and frail. "Are you alright?" John asks as he settles me on the cold floor. I can feel cold sweat on my forehead. "No," I say honestly. _Look, _Zakarius says, and I force myself to look up. John helps me stand and lets me lean on him. He puts his arm around my waist and drapes mine over his shoulders. I watch my pendant float off the ground, ablaze and protected by blue flames. It's attracted to the door, like a magnet attracts metal. It makes contact with the door and I watch as the flames create intricate line work on the metal, weaving in and out, sometimes crossing each other. And then I realize—those are our symbols.

Once the fire stops carving symbols, it creates a metal clicking sound, and slides open. Inside, all I saw are fishes and water on the other side of the glass.

"Where are we?" asks Ella, and I feel her scoot closer to me. "I don't know," Crayton admits. I scan the control room. There are maybe fourteen seats before the cockpit in front, equally placed on both sides. On the walls are ancient pictures, but I didn't examine them. With John's help we move to the cockpit. Two rotating seats are there, in front of a thousand buttons and levers. "Crayton?" I say, "How do we fly this thing?"

The door behind us closes when Crayton, the last one to enter, steps off the door frame. "Excuse me," Crayton says. He sits on the right hand chair and pushes a big red button, and the others come to life. The radar in the middle beeps, and a map on the others illuminates with light. In the map I see we're in the very middle of the Bermuda Triangle.

"No way," Sam says, accidentally stepping on my foot just to take a look at the map. "We're in the Triangle!"

_Master created these storms that persuade people to stay away from his ship. He also brought along another beast that swam these waters, eating intruders alive if they came too close, _Zakarius says. "Everybody sit down! We're ready to launch!" Crayton says, and we hastily strap ourselves in. John grasps my hand and lets my head rest on his shoulder. After several pushes of buttons and pulling down of levers, the ship starts to ascend.


	17. Chapter 17: Six

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Six**

"Six?" a voice asks. I open my eyes to see John beside me. I'm in a room with walls exploding with colors; first red swirls, and the as they reach the door, the red turns into ocean blue. Funny, as much as I like it in here, I don't recall how I got here. "Where am I?" I ask him, pushing myself up on a soft and smooth material. I then realize this is a bed. I'm in one of the bedrooms.

"You fell asleep when we reached the Earth's stratosphere," John says, "so when it was okay to move around, I carried you here. You've been asleep for two and a half earth-hours."

I now hate myself for falling asleep during the ride. I just missed what should have been the biggest event of my life. I groan loudly and let my head fall into my hands. "Hey, it's alright, Six. You had to rest anyway," John says, scooting nearer to me. He wraps his arm around my waist and uses his other hand to force mine apart. I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but it's kind of hard not to. I've been dreaming about his day my entire life for Christ's sake! I know I just rose out of the sea and into the sky but I wanted to be awake when we were able to go home, even if it's still a year away.

"I know that," I finally say, "I just feel embarrassed because I was the only one asleep."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Here" John's hand reaches for something in his pocket. Out comes my pendant, normal and not fiery blue. I feel an unexpected wave of relief flood through me. He slips the chain through my head and pulls my hair out. The weight of my pendant sends a surge of strength through my veins. "The others are training," John says, "Shall we go?"

"Definitely," I reply, feeling giddy and excited. I swing my legs off the comfortable bed and follow John to the training area.

* * *

When I first laid eyes on the training area I swear my heart stopped.

It is a big room with a domed ceiling. Twenty or thirty lights hanging from above are illuminated and shining brightly, reminding me of a gymnasium. The section of the room I'm looking at right now is approximately eighteen meters wide and twenty-five meters long. The left and right walls are filled with doors. The floor is one hundred percent carpeted with something soft yet easy to get any form of friction on. A metal wall divides the room. On the other side of the metal wall, I hear loud gunshots and clinking of metal gears. That must be the target practice area.

"So," John says, "what do you think?"

"Where do I even start?" I ask in an amazed whisper. I watch Nine with his glowing red spear as he fights off automaton dummies that sprout from the doors on the wall and floor. When Nine destroys one after the other, they sink back to the ground, where I assume they'll be repaired by more robots. Only Nine, Ella, Sam, and Malcolm are here. Crayton, Cole, Marina and Meredith must be in the target practice area. I also notice that the mat of the floor is color-coded—all three of them. From wall to wall, the mat Nine is on is steely gray. Sam and Malcolm are on is green and as long as Nine's. Ella, with hi-tech goggles on, is on the widest mat; a black mat with white dots. Maybe that's a stimulation area, since Ella starts fighting off phantom enemies.

I finally decide where to go. "I'll be in the target area if you need me," I say, and with a quick peck on John's lips, I walk along the sides of the training area and slip through the huge, automatically sliding door, maybe around seven feet in height and three feet in length. I hear the door close behind me and everywhere, red, black and white bulls-eyes move—swinging from the ceiling, appearing on the walls, sprouting from the ground. Now this is what I'm talking about.

The walls here are filled with weapons of destruction—from little knifes to Loric samurai swords on the left and pistols to rocket launchers on the right. A ready-made belt with knife sheaths sits on the bench at the border of the shooting station. I secure the belt around my waist and after filing every pocket with knives, I enter the pandemonium of flying bullets.

* * *

Crayton calls off training seven earth-hours and thirty earth-minutes later. I'm supposed to do the earth-hour-thing, you know, now that we're in the endless beyond.

Zakarius, who was waiting outside the training area, leads us to the dining room. It's also a spacious room, but about two times smaller than the training room. A long, silver table is enough for all of us to occupy. John pulls the chair out for me and sits on the one beside mine. As soon as we all sit down, the empty plates come to life with food. We dig in, disregarding the foreign food, hungry after those long sweaty hours. Hey, I took a shower, so I feel fresh and cool.

_That's safe to eat, _Zakarius reassures me. I take a bite out of an irregularly shaped fruit. The juice that fills my mouth sends an exhilarating feeling through me. Normally, I would be all over exotic food, but this time, I want to savor the feeling in my mouth.

Good thing all of us are adventurous with these foods, if not we'd starve to death. I'm used to eating meat and other Earth food, not Loric like these. Loric food supply has years before they spoil. I don't know why, but something about Loric technology has that effect on plants. At least, Katarina said so.

"I love this fruit," I say between bites of the weird fruit. I've eaten three of them now, and I see Ella favors them to. She has juice on the corners of her mouth and her teeth are stained when she smiles widely at me. Crayton grabs a table napkin and wipes the sides of her mouth. No matter what age Ella has taken form of, I can clearly see in Crayton's eyes that fatherly characteristic I adore. Maybe he longs for his own child. Maybe he lost his during the war. Whatever the reason, I will make sure Crayton will get his revenge.

"This food is over the top," Nine says, grabbing everything within his arms' reach.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Malcolm says with a wink. Cole and the others chuckle, but I'm too busy eating my last piece of fruit to join in. God, I want some more, but sadly, Ella got hold of the last fruit.

* * *

Afterwards, we settle in for the night…so to speak.

John and I will share room, since he technically won't leave my side. "Day one," he says, and I understand what he means. "We're finally going home," I say, wrapping my arms around his neck as his are on my waist.

"We've waited so long. If only Henri were here," John says sadly.

"We all wish we have our Cêpans with us, John. Just think that you are going to win this war for him. For your parents. For Lorien," I say, just before his lips come crashing down on mine.

I eventually wake up without any trace of clothing left on my body. But the lights in my room are still dim. I found out that it indicates time. It must be night still. Then what woke me up?

John, who used to be sleeping soundly beside me, starts shaking, shivering. I roll on my other side and find his eyes at the back of his head. "John!" I yell in panic. I grab his shirt of the floor with telekinesis and put it on. Afterwards, I cup John's paper white face and try to shake him awake. "John!" I yell even louder. I can feel the hard thudding of John's heart. "John!"

What am I going to do? I can't just sit and yell all night long! I have to move! I have to do something! I have to save John!

John's pupils return and he sits bolt upright, taking in a deep intake of breath as he does so. I rub his sweaty back as he coughs and vomits bile on the edge of the bed. "What happened?" I ask him when he stops retching.

"Another premonition," he says hoarsely.

"Come on. Let's get you some water."

John couldn't fall asleep again that night. I didn't sleep as well, waiting for him to doze off first. This is his worst premonition. His breathing is labored as he tries desperately to sleep on my chest. I keep stroking his hair for no apparent reason. The bile on the floor disappears about five minutes later. No wonder this place is spotless. Everything's automated.

"I give up on sleeping," John whispers just before I'm about to sleep, "I see it all over again." I sigh loudly. "What did you see?"

"I saw Lorien after the attack. The dead started rising up from the ground. And with every step they took, they turned moldy green until they looked like the lower-ranked Mogs. They swarmed over me, tugging at my limbs, scratching my chest until my shirt rips open and they took my pendant," John says, and I feel the violent trembling of his body beside me. I shush him repeatedly. It feels like I'm talking to a kid. I lightly press my lips to his forehead and kiss him goodnight. Delaying the drowsiness no further, I close my eyes and wish for a better tomorrow.


	18. Chapter 18: John

**Chapter Eighteen  
John**

Usually when I'm tired, I always fall asleep dreamless. Normal people do. Even if my arms are around Six, the girl that anchors me to the real world, I still don't get why I had this damn dream.

I'm back on Lorien, on the day it was attacked. Blood and bodies are strewn everywhere I look. I can easily see my father upon hundreds. I wonder if my mother is still here, or my grandfather, or my grandmother. So I wander around, floating above the people I was supposed to lead. I stop floating. I can't see this area, because this is where the krauls slaughtered the children.

Instead, I turn back to where my father lies on the ground. He looks like me; past the blood, we share the same wavy hair and build, but something about his features reminds me of danger, unpredictability. Maybe I got my traits from my mother. Either way, I will get my revenge. I'll kill every single Mogadorian if I have to. The only thing I want to achieve right now is revenge. _I will avenge you, _I think, _All of you._

Dad begins to move. So do the other Lorics, Lorics I've come to know as dead. But, how come they can still move? Many of them are on their feet now, including my own father, Liren. Their limbs crack back to their ordinary positions, and I feel the hairs on my arms stand up. The sounds of bones popping are definitely not pleasing.

My ability to float fails me and I fall into a puddle of dark red blood. The walking dead closes in on me. Their skin turns greener and greener with every step. The color looks kind of familiar to me, but I don't have the time to register my sudden thought because one of them grabs my arm. Another grabs my left leg. The others rip my shirt apart. My Lumen won't light up. Every time I attempt to fling one of them away with telekinesis, a headache is what results. What is happening? They pull at my limbs, stretching me. I can't believe that they'd have the strength to stretch my body, given the fact that they've been dead for nearly a year since we left the destroyed planet.

Liren walks past the crowd, his face twisted into an unimaginable state. My own father is watching me as I helplessly try to fight off my own undead kind. He takes my pendant and with a tug of his hand, the chain breaks. "No!" I manage to yell, but every struggle against them is futile. They have my pendant, and there's nothing I can do. "This will be what's left of you," a voice says through Liren's mouth, "When I'm through with you, there will be nothing left of your body for a proper burial." Liren's face turns darker than the rest. The green in his skin turns gray and ashen. He shoots up several inches and all of a sudden I see Setrákus Ra, and the view of Mogadore behind him…

* * *

"John!" Six yells and I sit bolt upright, seeing nothing but darkness. Bile comes up my throat and I didn't have the time to force it back down. I double over the edge of the bed and let everything come out while Six rubs my back and shoulder.

What does the vision mean? Why did the dead come back to life? Why did their skin turn green? I cough out the last stream of vomit as Six asks, "What happened?"

I force the lump in my throat to come down before answering, "Another premonition."

"Come on. Let's get you some water," Six suggests. I nod uneasily and after fixing ourselves up at a slow pace, we exit our room.

There is no sign of water in the storage area in the dining room but there is glowing baby blue liquid in a pitcher there. After Six made sure that it isn't poisonous, I drink three glasses of the odd liquid. I remember from dinner that this is the same liquid from the taste, minus the glowing part.

Six copes with my slow pace yet again. We must have reached about half an hour before entering our dimly lit room. There is a metallic click from the floor and my vomit gets sucked by hole in the ground. The lights in our room continue to change colors and courses. Six is first to lie back down with a sigh. My insides churn horribly as I lie back down beside her. I rest my head on her chest as she gently strokes my hair. I stare as the color blue explodes on the left side of the room. The effect is truly amazing; it looks like a bucket of paint had been thrown at the wall. I play with Six's fingers, thinking about how she's always there for me. How I love the way she smiles. How she kisses me on the lips. How she became my everything.

The pleasing thought of her is washed away when I start to replay the vision in my mind. The bodies, Liren, Setrákus…

"I give up on sleeping," I say, "I see it all over again." My head rises as Six sighs loudly. I can tell she's very, very tired.

"What did you see?" she asks.

"I saw Lorien after the attack. The dead started rising up from the ground. And with every step they took, they turned moldy green until they looked like the lower-ranked Mogs. They swarmed over me, tugging at my limbs, scratching my chest until my shirt rips open and they took my pendant," I say. I feel my hairs rise up again. I start to tremble out of fear—for the first time since we left Earth, I feel the cold chill of fear run down my spine. Six tries to take it away. I now realize how perfect she is for me—how only she can keep me calm. Six is and will be the only who will have this kind of effect on me. I love her, and I will protect her, even from myself.

Six gives me a kiss on the forehead, and then dozes off. Maybe it's about time I take a rest too. But I'm afraid—again—that I will see that horrible dream. I interlock my fingers with Six's, and slowly, nervously, I close my eyes.

* * *

I haven't dreamt of anything, but the next morning, I knew I'm going to have to confess it to the others.

Breakfast comes, and I remain silent. Six is first to dig in under guidance from Zakarius. She bites at the end of weird, deep red meat and says, "Tastes like chicken." That is enough for everyone to eat. Ella, however, wants more fruits. So Zakarius, with the help of octopus-like arms, hands her a plate-full.

Training is directly after we have a grace period of ten minutes—and I still haven't told anyone. No one but Six knows. "Aren't you going to spill the beans yet?" Six asks me on the way to the training area.

"I don't know when, but soon," I reply. Ella's head cocks a little to our direction. Eavesdropping, I suppose, but that doesn't run in Ella's personality and attitude. At least, I hope not.

Six tries the stimulation area. She puts on a pair of dark glasses, and she starts punching at odd places, kicking things visible only to her. I see Nine in the singles mat, Ella and Sam on the doubles, but I can't find Crayton. I have to speak with him.

After checking the target practice area, it turns out Crayton isn't in the training room. I walk out of the training room without anyone noticing. Zakarius is waiting outside, and I nearly bumped into him if I did not catch myself. "Where's Crayton?" I ask.

_In the control room,_ Zakarius says.

"I thought only Six can activate the door to the control room."

_Yes, only she can do it, _Zakarius replies, _but she already has, and it will remain available until she exits the ship._ Oh, so that's how it works. Zakarius leads me to Crayton, and I get nervous each step I take. I wish Six is here, beside me, comforting me, not Zakarius, the stone cold protector. Soon I'm facing the same metal door that lead to the room where I watched the sky turn from stormy gray to midnight black as we left Earth. _I should go, _Zakarius says, _I have my own army to train._ With that he turns and disappears, the impact of his paws of the stone floor the only thing left behind. I take a deep breath and walk past the door as soon as it slides open.

Before, I didn't have time to study the paintings on the wall. Now, I have all the time in the world. I look at the nearest one. It shows ten people, and in their very midst is one I recognize pretty well—Pittacus Lore. This painting must be a presentation of the original ten Elders of Lorien. The next one shows twenty people—ten children, ten adults. That must be us. I can easily pick myself out because we're arranged in number. Number One was a girl, and so was Number Two. Number Three was a boy. Three members of the Garde who died before me. The first three Gardes who died for Lorien.

"John?" Crayton asks. I turn around just in time to see an automaton take the wheel. The ship must be in auto-pilot mode.

"I had a vision last night," I say, "I was on Lorien, after the attack. Everywhere, the dead began to move and rise. Even my own father. Then they grabbed me, scratched me and then my father took my pendant. I couldn't do anything. Then my father transformed into Setrákus Ra." The words came out of my mouth in a rush. It's a pretty good thing I didn't stutter, because I would have to explain all over again.

"The dead rose, like zombies?" Crayton asks, but I don't answer. As he thinks for a logical solution, I think of Henri. He would have given me advice by now. He could have taught me how to control the dreams. He could have helped me. I didn't realize that I was standing in front of an odd painting until Crayton curses. He had hit his foot against one of the steel legs of a chair. The painting looks like Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, except that it only has four images. The first image is a man, ordinary, nothing special. The one next to it has some sort of graffiti all over his arms. The third image shows shades of mossy green, like infection. The skin…it looks like Six's skin, when she got hit by the poisoned bullet. The dream suddenly popped into my head. That's why it was so familiar. They were all infected. But how? I force myself to look at the fourth image, but what I see is not human, nor Loric. It's a low-ranked Mogadorian.

"Intriguing, is it not?" Crayton says.

"The dream, Six being poisoned, everything. It all makes sense," I say, in a whisper. How is this possible? Well, I know that once you're infected by the poison, there is a one hundred percent chance you'll die.

"What do you mean?"

I sigh, and the spark of hatred in my heart turns into an inferno. I jab my finger at the last image. With all the hatred that weighed down on my heart, I say, "That is the evolution from Loric to Mogadorian."


	19. Chapter 19: John

**Chapter Nineteen**

**John**

"This is insane," Crayton says.

"Yes it is, but knowing the Mogs, I guess we have the right to call this insane," I agree.

I can't believe it either. But nothing is impossible now. I live in a planet where people shoot lasers out of their hands and where animals shape-shift. After Number Three died, I'm surprised that I have survived this long. Of course, I managed to stay alive because of Six, but before I thought it was impossible. After spending all those years on Earth, I'm not a big fan of fantasy anymore. I believe that anything is possible—that anything can exist, even this thing; the evolution.

Crayton says, "We have to tell the others, immediately."

* * *

"So, you're telling me that Mogs have some sort of weapon that turns Lorics to monsters?" Cole asks. We moved from the training area to the conference room when Crayton and I broke the news out to the others. Nine and Meredith are arm wrestling on the cold, black stone table that appeared when Six entered the room. Ella is sitting on Marina's lap in her six year-old form. Cole stands behind her chair, drumming a subtle rhythm near her head. Looking at them…they remind me of a family.

Sam and Malcolm are staring at the maps on the walls. Crayton however, hasn't spoken a word since we left. "Yeah, but I wouldn't call them monsters. They're sick…infected," Six says hardly, her gaze fixed upon the map beside Earth. Her back is turned towards me, so I can't see her expression. But by the way I can see her nails digging into her arm, I can sense that she is really, really pissed off.

"Whatever. But how is this possible?"

"Because Mog tech is one of the most advanced systems in the galaxy," Nine says, his eyes maintaining that fixed gaze on his and Meredith's interlocked fingers. "Their techs reign over ours. They have chemicals that extend their life span. Explosives that make nuclear bombs on Earth look like fireworks. Plants that don't need water, and all those other shit. I learned all of that from Sandor."

After Nine finishes his sentence, Meredith wins their arm wrestling challenge.

"Even if they have that kind of technology, they wouldn't be able to convert a positive into a negative," Sam says. Damn Nerd.

"Sam, whatever subject you learned that from won't help us now," I say.

"I'm just say—"

"Sam, nothing's impossible now," Six says.

"Enough! We have to think through this carefully," Malcolm says. Six punches the stone wall out of anger, the anger she kept in during the entire conversation. Several cracks appear, but they disappear as soon as Six takes her fist off of it.

Crayton says, "Malcolm's right."

Six continues to stare at the map. Her fingers trace the old paper, and the thing moves, like "The Marauder's Map" from Harry Potter. Yeah, I watch those kinds of movies—they almost make me believe that we aren't the only supernatural things living on Earth.

A minute passes, and then turns to ten. I can tell by the watch on Sam's wrist. I've been thinking about the evolution, how it turned my people into monsters. But could it be all true? Could it be possible? If it were, where are they now?

A thought pops into my head. If the evolution is about turning Loric into Mogs, then they'd be—

"They're in Mogadore," I say, voicing out my thoughts.

"What do you mean 'They're in Mogadore'?" Marina asks.

"John meant that the Lorics, what's left of them, are in Mogadore. I've been thinking and, well, I think that the Mogs may not have killed them during the attack," Six says, turning around to face us for the first time. Her eyes are as hard as her face, and emotionless as well. There are red marks on her arm, where she dug her nails into a few minutes ago.

"Impossible!" Nine yells, standing up, "I remember everything from Lorien. I saw a Mogadorian kill my grandfather that day. He couldn't have lived…he just can't!"

"Can't you be joyous for a second?" Six yells, "We ourselves defy the laws of physics on Earth, so is it wrong to believe that the entire race of Lorien is still alive? Lorien still has its people! It still has hope!"

"How do you explain the killing, huh? If you think you're so smart then answer me," Nine says, glowering over Six. With a blink of an eye, I appear beside Six, my hand on Nine's bicep. "Leave her alone," I say.

"Get out of the way, Four," Nine replies, his voice dripping with anger.

"It's better than nothing, Nine. Think about what you're doing," Crayton warns. Nine shrugs my hand off and lets himself out, stomping. "I'll follow him, get his mind straight," Meredith says before she, too, exits the room.

"What are we going to do, Crayton?" Cole asks, "We can't just storm into Mogadore to get them all back. There are only ten of us, and an army of Chimæras against their bloody species."

"That is exactly what we're going to do," Six says, "Half of their population is Lorics. Few are vat-born, and very few are pure Mogs. We can take them, just as long as we have the numbers. I believe that Marina can heal the remainder of the Lorics in Mogadore while we distract the army."

"No!" Cole yells, "I will not risk Marina for that pile of shit!"

"That pile of shit you're referring to is our people! And besides, it isn't up to you to decide!" Six says, and takes a step closer to Cole. I put my arm in front of her to push her behind me. "Cole, Six is right. The choice is mine—not yours. Just give me time to decide," Marina says calmly, decisively.

"You have all the time you need, specifically six months. That's when we arrive in Mogadore," Crayton says, "Get back to training. We're going to train every day until the time comes."

* * *

Six isn't very enthusiastic during training. I had beaten her three times straight before she left the training room. "She just needs some space, man," Sam says when Crayton allotted us a ten-minute break.

"She just worries me sometimes," I admit. Actually, she worries me a lot.

"Chill. Give her some of that fruit she likes and watch the magic happen," Sam says, handing me two of the biggest fruits available. I nod and sneak out of the dining room.

It's only been two days but I think I've memorized the way to the bedrooms, where I think Six may be at. But when I got there, she was nowhere to be found. I leave the fruits on the table beside the bed and exit the room quickly. Where could she be? She can be in the control room, conference room and the farthest corner of the ship.

I walk back alone to the conference room, whispering her name ever so often. The door of the conference room is ajar. Inside, Six stands in front of the map again. I don't know why, but something about that map pisses her off. "Six?" I ask.

Her ramrod straight figure turns around, her eyes angry red. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask, reaching her in six long strides. I hold her close and tuck her head under my chin. I rub her back as she says, "He's there."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I ask. Six lets go of me and says, "The map. It shows Mogadore, and look at this." Her finger traces a little dot on the map. A flag moves beside it, and I don't understand what it says.

"What is it?" I ask. _Please, _I think as well, _pardon my stupidity._

"They're Loric symbols, and this dot right here," Six swallows loudly before continuing, "It represents Pittacus Lore."

I didn't get the last part. My brain had malfunctioned before Six had even finished her sentence. Pittacus Lore, in Mogadore…how? Damn it. Why is this day all about questions? Equations and problems and other things. It's annoying.

"What?" I say instead.

"Pittacus Lore is in Mogadore…with Setrákus Ra."


	20. Chapter 20: Six

**Chapter Twenty  
Six**

"Are you sure?" John asks. I nod slowly, and explain, "For some reason, I can understand these symbols. I swear to God; 'Pittacus Lore' is written here." I point, again to that little moving flag on the map.

"Six, I believe you, and I think I know why he's there," John says grimly.

"Why?"

"Remember my premonitions?" he asks, and I nod. "What if he's the one Setrákus is using, not Metus? It makes sense! Pittacus is Lorien's most powerful Elder. Setrákus knows that he is a threat to him. So—"

"—he set Pittacus into a deep sleep and only uses him for power," I finish for him, "I can't believe this."

"I know, I know. Should we tell the others?" John says.

"Yes, but not right now. We need to let them cool off. Maybe tomorrow?" I suggest. John shrugs, and with his arm protectively around my waist, we leave the conference room.

* * *

"Where have you two been?" Crayton demands. John looks at his feet while I rack my brains for something to answer. "Roaming around," I reply in a monotone voice, "I was trying to clear my head, you know, after everything I've seen and heard. John must have gotten worried about me."

"Well? Get going! We have to train harder than ever before," Crayton says, and we get to work. I give a little more effort in this session. Before I went to the conference room for personal solitude, I was too occupied in my own thoughts that I let my guard down, leading to John's three victories. Besides, I had to give it to him; he was getting better and better at fighting.

Now, I had my knives out, slashing a thrusting them in the automatons that rush to me. The robotic dummies stop coming out. The system must be reloading some more. I flinch when someone tugs at the edge of my tank top. I turn around and say, "Ella! What are you doing here?"

"Can I have a turn?" Ella asks. Gosh, she's tall. For an eleven year-old that is. In fact, she's nearly taller than me. Damn it. Being short seems to run in my genes. "Sure," I say with a smile, and I step off the mat and take a seat on one of the benches there. Sam sits beside me and I ask him for the time. "Thirty minutes past seven. Man, Crayton is stepping it up," he complains.

"Want to practice fighting?" I ask, "I bet you fifty you'll."

"We aren't evenly matched!" Sam complains again, "Fine. But no betting, alright? We both know I'd get my ass kicked anyways." I smile at Sam and practice fighting with him. Whilst fighting, I smile at his progress. Sam may not be as strong as me, but he is perhaps just as quick and smart with his moves. But, as he had said, I win again.

Not a minute after, Crayton calls a closure to this day's training session. Like yesterday, we head to the dining room to eat. This time, they served what I think is chicken, only with meat a little darker and with a different and more appealing aroma. Nine is first to eat, and after eating two more bites of it, we decide it's safe to eat. I eat silently, chewing then swallowing until I finish my half.

I'm the first one to leave. I don't wait for the others to finish. But instead of going straight to bed, I walk back to the training room. It's odd, almost weird for me to enter the now quiet room. It's so still here—no gunshots, no creaking of gears, no muffled grunts. It's nearly peaceful here, except that I'll be using this for an hour more or two.

I walk on the white spotted mat, but not before slipping the dark glasses on. Once I step on the mat, I instantly see my attackers. There are ten Mogs, all charging at me at different intervals. I take down the first two, but the third manages to slip past my guard. If I hadn't reacted quickly, the third Mog would have hit me and will break the connection. You see, that's how the virtual reality works. If you die, the game is over.

Anyways, I block the third attacker's fist and punch his face. The other seven keeps on coming, with new ones trailing close behind them. I take them all down, until I see the words "Level Succeeded" written in English. This would be the first time I saw anything in English.

I take the glasses off and place them on the nearest bench. I sigh deeply. I know I'm going to have to tell them soon. As far as I can tell, they're all in good mood, but it's time to go to sleep. I know how much rest and relaxation means to them, especially after long hours of training. I decide to let them rest for now. Maybe tomorrow, when we eat breakfast. Then, I'll admit it to them.

I stand up and close all the lights that illuminated the training room. I walk to the bedrooms alone, thinking about the map on the wall. Could it be true? Does the map show the truth? What if it's jinxed?

Thanks again, to my very jumbled-up thoughts, I got lost, I think. The corridor I'm in leads away from the bedrooms, but because of the adrenaline, the adventure-lover side of me decides to discover what lies beyond.

At the end of the corridor, I stop before a big metal door. On the front, it read "Chimæra Unit" in large Loric symbols. It slides open, and the tip of Zakarius' nose hits my forehead.

_I'm sorry! _Zakarius exclaims, his head bowed low while he whines, as if expecting a punishment, _Forgive me!_

"Hey, hey," I say, running my fingers through his coarse fur, "It's alright, Zakarius. Calm yourself." He straightens up, and an idea pops in my head. "Zakarius, you know that map on the wall in the conference room?"

_Indeed, yes. Master himself drew the map, and cast upon it is a charm that makes it move and pinpoint the exact location of its inhabitants_, Zakarius says.

"Zakarius, I need you to come with me," I say, and together we walk back the way I came, this time heading to the conference room. Again.

* * *

_It can't be, _Zakarius whispers after I explain everything to him.

"I know it's hard to believe but, Zakarius," I say, "Pittacus is held captive in Mogadore, if this map is accurate."

_It is accurate, but why is he there? _Zakarius asks.

"I have a feeling that Setrákus is using him for power," I say calmly, but in my head I hear Zakarius throw on a fit of rage. "Zakarius, calm down. We'll think of something, and when we get to Mogadore, I'll give you the permission to rip Setrákus' throat out."

He gives me what I think is a smile, and he says, _With pleasure. I have to go. I have to train my army for this war. _After that he bows politely, and he disappears. The doors of the conference room open before him and close after he leaves. Meanwhile, with my enhanced hearing abilities, I hear the others look for me. I sigh and meet them in the sleeping quarters.

* * *

"Where have you been?" John asks, clearly disappointed.

"In the conference room with Zakarius," I reply.

"What were you doing there?" Crayton asks. I sigh. If I approached and slipped by them invisibly, I wouldn't need to face this interrogation.

"Staring at the map," I reply again.

"Is that all?"

"Why? Do you think I'd burn it down? It is important! We can use that for planning the war," I say, "I'm not stupid enough to do anything to the map, except to stare and examine it."

"I didn't call you stupid, I'm just checking, reassuring myself," Crayton says in defense. I roll my eyes and when I turn around, I nearly bump into Cole, who was about to exit his room. His hair is messed-up (no surprise there) and his shirt is disheveled. We make eye contact, and before I realized what was happening, he asks, "What do you mean?"

Damn it.

"What was that, Cole?" Crayton asks.

"Nothin—" I try to say, but Cole beats me to it again. "Her thoughts were about Pittacus in Mogadore."

"What?" Crayton asks angrily. "Show me, Six."

* * *

"The two of you knew and you didn't tell us!" Crayton yells at both John and me.

"Leave John out of this," I say, "It was my idea. All of you seem to in a bad mood so we decided to keep quiet until tomorrow."

"This is an important matter!"

"And the last matter we discussed ended badly. Fighting isn't good for us all. Now, Crayton, calm down. Six has a point," Marina says. Crayton inhales deeply and exhales loudly. "Besides," Marina adds, "The map may be lying or malfunctioning."

"This kind of map does not lie," Crayton says, "Like your Chests. No matter what you say, or do, this map will never lie."

That's it then. We have something new to fight for. "Pittacus really is in Mogadore, and we have to save him and Lorien."


End file.
